Reunion
by Kimmi G
Summary: Someone from Lyle’s past as Bobby Bowman comes to Blue Cove.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters from the show The Pretender. I'm just borrowing them. I don't get paid for these stories; this is purely for entertainment purposes, most times for my own entertainment but hopefully for other Pretender fans like me. All characters not in the show are mine and I do own them but they're not worth anything anyway.

**Author:** Kimmi

**Feedback:** Yes please.

**Rating:** PG13

**Authors note:** This is a long story but I hope you can get to the end of it and like it. All the people mentioned that are from Bobby Bowman's home town expect for Bobby, Jimmy and Mr. and Mrs. Bowman are from my mind. I know nothing about the procedures involved in adoption so bear with me during those parts. Everything written in**_ bold and italic font _is flashbacks and memories. **

**Summary:** Someone from Lyle's past as Bobby Bowman comes to Blue Cove.

Reunion

Broots was having a nice dinner out with his daughter. He heard someone talking very loudly and looked up. The voice sounded somewhat familiar but Broots couldn't place where from. Once he spotted the source of the loud talking he knew **_exactly_** where he knew them from. Shrinking down in his seat he tried not to be seen.

"Oh my, my, my, my, my, look what we have here. What a coincidence to see you here, Ricky." It took Broots only a moment to realise he was being spoken to. He looked up and smiled.

"Oh hi, what are you doing in Blue Cove…" he tried to remember the man's name; it would look strange if he couldn't, "Donny?" Donny smiled and slapped Broots over the back, hard. Broots was shocked by the power of it. He looked at Debbie and saw she was watching him, confused.

"Who are these people Daddy?" Broots laughed nervously. 

"Honey, I went to school with these people." He gave her a look trying to get her to play along. Debbie caught on and smiled.

"It's nice to meet you." She put her hand out to the people standing in front of them. Donny shook her hand while the woman standing on his right smiled.

"And who this, Ricky?" Broots smiled.

"This is my daughter; Debbie." The woman and Donny smiled.

"Well it's nice to meet you Debbie. My name is Elsie and I also went to school with your father." Debbie smiled at the woman. She wondered what her father was up to. Why was he pretending he went to school with these people and why were they calling him Ricky? She had already met his friends from his high school and they definitely **_weren't_** these people and her fathers name **_wasn't_** Ricky.

"Ricky, where is your beautiful wife?" Donny looked around nervously. He remembered his last encounter with Ricky's **_wife_ and secretly hoped she wasn't around.**

"My wife," Broots was confused but he soon remembered that Miss Parker had pretender to be his wife when he had met these people, "oh my wife, she's, uh, at work right now." Debbie gave her father a confused look, but didn't comment. He knew he'd have to fill her in on everything later and wasn't looking forward to it.

"Hey Maddie, you haven't spoken up yet. Ricky, you remember Maddie Clarke don't you?" Broots only now noticed the woman standing on the other side of the Donny. She had blonde hair, green eyes, and a good figure and was wearing an expensive business suit. She smiled at him and it was one of the most beautiful smiles he had ever seen. He felt his mouth going dry.

"I, uh, don't know if I remember Maddie." Donny laughed and slapped Broots over the back again.

"Sure you do, how could you **_not_ remember Maddie?" Maddie seemed alarmed for a moment but Donny didn't catch it and continued. "Plus you used to have that huge crush on her." Broots went red. Even though it really wasn't him who had the crush on her, he felt as though he'd been caught out.**

"Maddie, do you remember Ricky from Douglas High?" Maddie looked him over. 

"I'm sorry but I don't. I don't think we exactly hung with the same crowd back in high school." She smiled sadly at Broots. Broots could see that it was obvious Ricky and Maddie never 'hung with the same crowds' in high school. Maddie was probably one of the popular ones.

"Well, I didn't think **_you_** would. Why don't you get our table while we catch up with Ricky?" Maddie nodded and went to their table. As soon as she was gone Donny looked at Broots. "She's not as big of a snob as she was in high school, after what happened I guess she changed. When we met up with her here she didn't even recognise us, can you believe it?" Broots laughed. He noticed Debbie roll her eyes.

"If she'd come to the 15 year reunion then maybe she would have." Broots now understood why he hadn't seen Maddie before. If she wasn't at the reunion then he wouldn't have met her. 

"Well I think Maddie's getting impatient over there and **_our_ dinners getting cold." Broots was hoping that they'd take the hint and leave. Donny and Elsie nodded and started to walk over to their table.**

"We'll catch up better later. See you Ricky and nice to meet you Debbie. Say hello to you wife for us." Broots smiled until they walked away. Once they were gone he let out a huge sigh. Turning back to Debbie, he gave her a weak smile. He was really hoping that she'd just drop it. Unfortunately Debbie was too intrigued with what had just happened to drop it.

"Daddy, what was that about?"

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Miss Parker was sitting at her desk. She'd fallen asleep there the night before and was still there. Luckily she had a change of clothes at work, so hopefully no one would realise. She heard a knock at her door and called for them to come in. Broots came in with Sydney trailing after him. Sydney looked amused about something but Broots looked extremely upset.

"What's wrong Broots, the store you buy those hideous shirts from burn down?" Sydney laughed but Broots looked at her annoyed.

"No, Miss Parker do you remember when Jarod sent us to Lyle's high school reunion?" Miss Parker's smile disappeared quickly. She sat up straighter.

"Of course I do. How could I forget about that?" Broots sighed.

"There was a couple there, Donny and Elsie, they're here in town and they saw me." Miss Parker relaxed slightly. She was worried that it was something more than that.

"So? What did the rejects from 'Hee Haw' want?" Broots shrugged.

"I don't know; all I know is that they want to have dinner with Ricky Sanders and his wife." Miss Parker raised her eyebrow. She had been Mrs. Ricky Sanders when they went there. She was definitely **_not_ going to pretend to be Broots' wife again.**

"It's not happening Broots." Broots seemed confused for a moment. He realised what she thought and shook his head.

"I wasn't really planning on having dinner with these people. What I wanted to tell you was that Debbie was there and I had to tell her something about why these people were calling me Ricky and saying we went to school together." Miss Parker stood up. She walked over to him so she was in his face.

"What did you tell her?" Broots looked down.

"I, uh, told her the truth." Miss Parker was shocked. "She's old enough to know. I didn't tell her everything about what I do, that would be too much, but I told her about that." Miss Parker took a step away from him.

"You told her?" Broots nodded. Miss Parker went back to her seat. Broots had actually **_told_** his daughter. She wasn't sure what to think about it. "I think you should, uh, get back to work." Broots and Sydney both looked at her confused. Instead of starting a fight they turned around and left.

Miss Parker was proud that Broots told Debbie the truth. She was frightened about Debbie possibly knowing the truth about what they did would mean, but she was glad that Broots didn't find the need to lie to his daughter… like some other fathers she knew.

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Broots and Sydney were very confused about Miss Parker's reaction. They both thought she'd be angry at Broots for telling Debbie the truth. Broots was walking next to Sydney and looked over to his side. He saw someone and hid behind Sydney. Sydney looked at him confused.

"What's wrong Broots?" Broots pointed at a woman talking with a sweeper. Sydney looked at the woman. He had no idea who she was.

"Th-that's Maddie Clarke. I met her last night. She went to Douglas High." Sydney looked at the woman again. He didn't recognise her.

"Are you sure?" Broots nodded.

"She didn't go to the reunion. She was at the restaurant with Donny and Elsie." Sydney nodded. He looked back over at Maddie. She was now staring at them and she saw Broots. Broots yelped and tried to hide more. Maddie started making her way towards where they were. Broots tried to run away but she got there first.

"Ricky?" Broots looked at her like he'd just seen her for the first time.

"Oh, uh, hi Maddie, I didn't see you." Maddie smiled. Sydney almost burst out laughing at Broots. Maddie stepped closer to him.

"Listen, I just wanted to tell you that I know you're not Ricky." Both Sydney and Broots looked at her confused. "You see, I ran into the **_real_** Ricky a few years ago and he's **_not_** you. I don't know why you'd **_want_ to go to my stupid high school reunion, but I know you didn't really go to my school. Donny and Elsie don't know, but I do." Broots looked at her flabbergasted.**

"Uh, I **_am_** Ricky. Ricky Saunders." Maddie laughed.

"It's Sanders." Broots looked more panicked. "So, who are you, really?" Broots looked at Sydney to see if he should tell her. Sydney nodded. Broots took a deep breath and started to tell Maddie who they were.

"I'm Broots, this is Sydney. He went as well." Sydney couldn't help but laugh. Maddie turned to Sydney.

"Who were **_you_** supposed to be?" Sydney offered him her hand.

"I believe I was a Professor Tom Greer." Maddie laughed.

"Good cover, no one would remember him. **_I_ don't even remember what he looked like." She shook his hand. When she retracted her arm she looked at her watch. "I've got to be going; I have a meeting with Mr. Cox that I've got to get to. I would love to know why you were at that reunion, though. Maybe after my meeting we can talk?" Sydney nodded. He was more curious about why she was having a meeting with Mr. Cox.**

"Well my office is…" Sydney kept on talking but Maddie's attention was drawn away from him. A man was walking past them. He looked like he was in a hurry and was looking at his watch. Time seemed to slow down for her and all other sounds except for the sound of her breathing her heart beat blurred into nothingness. She felt like she'd seen a ghost.

"Maddie, are you okay?" Maddie looked back at Broots. Both Broots and Sydney were looking at her concerned. She shook herself and smiled.

"Sure, I just, uh, thought I saw someone I knew, never mind." She looked to where the person was standing talking with some people in the hallway. She turned and walked away, still glancing back over her shoulder at the ghost. Sydney and Broots looked to see who she had been looking at. Sydney sighed as he spotted Lyle.

"You may have." Sydney shook his head and looked at Broots who was watching Lyle chatting happily with someone in the hallway. "I wonder what Maddie is doing here and whether Mr. Lyle is aware someone he went to high school with as Bobby Bowman is here." Broots gulped and looked back at Sydney.

"What do you think he'll do?" Sydney shrugged.

"I don't know, Broots."

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Maddie made a pit stop in the bathroom. She went straight to the sinks and turned the tap on. Flashes of Lyle in the hallway and a boy she once knew when she was younger assaulted her as she splashed her face with water. It was impossible, but she could have sworn she'd just seen a ghost. Shaking her head, she reasoned that it was probably just the memories of high school that was playing with her mind.

"Get a grip Maddie. He's dead, you know it. He can't be here. **_You_** found the body, there's **_no_ way it could be him." She looked up at the mirror. She had to convince herself. "He probably just looked like him." **

Only somewhat satisfied with her statement she turned the tap off and got a paper towel. Wiping her face she sighed. She had an important meeting to get to so she couldn't stand in the ladies room fretting over her ghosts. Once her business with Mr. Cox was done she could leave, get as far away from ghosts, or look-alikes, as possible. She fixed her makeup and walked hurriedly over to Mr. Cox's office, making sure she didn't look to where she had seen the ghost.

When she got to the secretary outside Mr. Cox's office she let out a sigh of relief. She'd made it all the way without seeing the ghost again. She tapped her fingers on the desk and smiled at the secretary when she looked up.

"I'm Madelyn Clarke; I have a meeting with Mr. Cox." The secretary nodded.

"Go on in Miss Clarke, Mr. Cox is waiting for you." Maddie smiled and walked through the doors. The first thing she saw was Mr. Cox was standing in front of a crib with his back to her.

"Mr. Cox, I'm Madelyn Clarke. I'm here on behalf of the Langford Adoption Agency." Mr. Cox turned around and smiled at her. Maddie didn't like the look of his smile or his eyes, there was something about them that was unsettling. She looked at the child in the crib and smiled, instantly making the child smile back.

"Miss Clarke, I've been expecting you. This is Master Parker; my employer would like to adopt him." Maddie looked at Mr. Cox. 

"Where are his parents? It may not be as simple as just **_wanting_ to adopt him…" Mr. Cox's smile faded.**

"His mother died during childbirth, I should know because I was there, his father just recently committed suicide. My employer is Master Parker's uncle, he has been taking care of him, and he just wants to make it official." Maddie was saddened by Master Parker's life story. He was so young yet he'd already experienced so much loss.

"If your employer is related to him it will be easier. First of all I'll have to get DNA tests done to prove the relation; I'll also need a meeting with your employer to make sure he is fit to be Master Parker's legal guardian. I'll have to see the environment he will be living in, and also make sure that the adoption isn't contested." Mr. Cox nodded.

"**_Most_** of that shouldn't be a problem; the only thing is the DNA tests. We already have tests done that will prove his relation." Maddie shook her head. It didn't matter if they had done the tests, they'd have to be done again.

"We have to have our **_own_** proof, Mr. Cox. We can't be sure you haven't faked the tests." Mr. Cox seemed to get angry but he walked deceptively calmly over to her. Once he was in her face he spoke through clenched teeth.

"The Centre has been doing business with the Langford Adoption Agency for years, they have **_always_** trusted us." Maddie sighed. She'd been told that the head of the Langford Adoption Agency used to deal with Centre requests personally, but she had died and they were under new management. She had been warned the Centre may not be easy to deal with.

"We are under new management Mr. Cox. Unfortunately in today's world we cannot go on just your word or the trust of someone who isn't alive anymore. There are procedures that have to be done. Don't worry; I'm sure that if your employer is suitable he will be able to adopt Master Parker." Mr. Cox sighed. He didn't like this one bit. 

It was **_supposed_** to be easy. He didn't even know why Mr. Raines wanted to legally adopt Master Parker anyway. He could just use the child without anyone being the wiser, but Mr. Raines had put everything in jeopardy with this stunt. If he was considered to be an unworthy parent; Master Parker would be taken away, and they couldn't risk that happening. Plus if Miss Parker decided to contest the adoption that was more trouble.

"Thank you for your time Miss Clarke. Mr. Raines will be in contact with you to set everything up." Maddie smiled and stood up. She looked back at Master Parker and saw a lonely look in his eyes.

"Do you mind if I say hello to the little guy before I leave?" Mr. Cox sighed. Maybe they could get on her good side and she'd approve the adoption. He smiled again and nodded.

"Sure, go ahead." Maddie smiled and walked over to Master Parker. As he saw her coming towards him his face lit up in a huge smile. It was obvious he didn't get much attention so whenever he did he became extra excited.

"Hello, how are you?" Master Parker laughed as she tickled him. She smiled. Hearing Cox sigh behind her she winked at Master Parker then turned around. Cox was staring at his watch. It was obvious he wanted her to leave. She turned back to Master Parker. "Goodbye Master Parker. Next time I come I'll play with you more." Master Parker's face lit up again. She smiled and turned around heading for the door.

"Again, thank you for your time." Maddie smiled and left the room. She had a bad feeling. She wasn't sure what it meant and tried to push it aside. First impressions weren't everything and she still had to meet Mr. Raines.

She started walking to where she'd last seen Sydney and Broots. She wanted to know why on earth they would want to go to the Douglas High School Reunion. Luckily she spotted Sydney walking out of Miss Parker's office.

"Sydney. I was just looking for you." Sydney stopped and looked at Maddie. He liked the woman, even though he didn't know her well, she seemed nice. She seemed to be curious as to why they went to her high school reunion but not judging about it. She actually seemed to find it funny. He walked over to her and smiled.

"Finished your meeting with Mr. Cox?" Maddie nodded. Sydney decided to see if he could find out why she had a meeting with him. "What was that meeting for?" Maddie smiled.

"Mr. Raines is trying to adopt his nephew, Master Parker. My agency is helping with that." Sydney was shocked. He didn't understand why Raines would do that. "Do you think Mr. Raines would be a suitable father for Master Parker?" Sydney opened his mouth to answer but Maddie hit herself over the head, stopping him from saying anything. "Actually, don't answer that question. My work is done for today." Sydney smiled.

"I'll tell you anyway if you like?" Maddie smiled but shook her head.

"When I do the interviews of people who know him I may come to you." Sydney nodded. Maddie smiled somewhat devilishly at him. "So, are you going to tell me why you and Broots went to my high school reunion?" Sydney laughed. He offered her his arm and started walking her to his office. He had to tell her **_something_** about it.

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"You told her we were there undercover on an unrelated matter?" Broots was astounded that Sydney could lie so easily.

"Well what was I going to tell her? We were there because the man we're hunting down led us there so we could see that our co-worker, who we thought was dead at the time who isn't dead right now, faked his death in high school and that man just happens to be the man you saw in the hallway today that made you look like you were going to pass out?" Broots pulled a face at Sydney. He obviously didn't want him to tell her that but now she thought they were cops or something.

"Well at least we won't have to see her again." Sydney looked away from Broots. Broots realized this and shook his head, his eyes growing wide. "**_Why_** are we going to see her again, Sydney?" Sydney sighed. 

"She's here because Mr. Raines is trying to adopt Master Parker. She'll be here for a few days. Besides, I'm going out to dinner with her tonight." Broots' eyes almost popped out of his head.

"You're what?" Sydney nodded.

"I'm going to dinner with her. She doesn't know anything around town so I offered and she accepted." Broots shook his head. This was just crazy.

"Well then I'll come too and I'll bring Debbie with me." Sydney smiled.

"That's a good idea Broots. She likes you, she says she admirers you for being able to put up with Donny and Elsie." Broots laughed. He stopped laughing when something occurred to him.

"They're not going to be there as well, are they?" Sydney burst out laughing.

"Maddie said **_she_** didn't even expect to see them here. They won't be coming." Broots let out a sigh of relief. Maddie knew that he wasn't really Ricky Sanders but Donny and Elsie didn't. Plus if they were going to be there it would look weird seeing as Sydney was supposed to be a teacher and it wouldn't look right.

"Do you think we should bring Miss Parker?" Sydney frowned. As much as he'd like Miss Parker to be there not only so he could spend some time with her but also so she could hear about what Raines was planning to do with her baby brother.

"I don't know if Miss Parker would **_want_ to go." They heard the doors of the office hissing closed and turned around. Miss Parker was standing there with her arms folded across her chest.**

"You don't know if Miss Parker would want to go where?" Sydney smiled brightly at Miss Parker while Broots cowered away from her gaze.

"Broots, Debbie and I are going out to dinner with one of the women from the high school reunion. She knows we never went there and doesn't really care." Miss Parker shook her head.

"You were right; Miss Parker **_wouldn't_ want to go." Sydney sighed. She should know why Maddie was there in the first place.**

"Miss Parker, Maddie is here at the Centre for a few days because she works in an adoption agency. Raines wants to adopt Master Parker." Miss Parker raised an eyebrow. She walked closer to him, watching his face to see how serious he was.

"Count me in, Syd. I think I'd like to talk to this woman." She turned and walked out of the room. Sydney smiled; he knew that after hearing about why Maddie was there that she'd want to come.

"I think she's worried Raines will get Master Parker." Sydney shook his head.

"Well she shouldn't be. Maddie told me she has to interview people close to Raines; that would include Miss Parker. She has a chance to stop the adoption." Broots nodded. His eyes grew wide suddenly and he stood up.

"Syd that would mean she has to talk with Lyle too." Sydney stood up as well. That wasn't good. He hadn't thought about that before. "What are we going to do?"

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Maddie walked to her car. There was something about the Centre that unnerved her. She figured that it was probably just because of how she thought she'd seen a ghost. She shook her head to clear her mind of the image. Just as she was about to get in her car she heard footsteps coming towards her. Turning around her eyes grew wide. **_He_ was there again, the ghost she'd seen earlier. He was talking on the phone and looked at his watch. Maddie closed her eyes and opened them, hoping he'd be gone. No such luck, he was still there and still looked like the ghost. She got in her car and drove away as quickly as she could. He couldn't be there.**

"What the hell is wrong with me? He's dead, you found him, end of story." She glanced in her rear view mirror and saw that the ghost was still standing there. She got out of the parking lot as fast as she could. Sydney was a shrink; she could tell him what she was seeing and he might be able to help her, or at least tell her why she was seeing him. She was having dinner with him and decided to talk with him about it.

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Sydney helped Maddie out of the car. They'd organised that he'd pick her up and drive her to the restaurant. On the drive there he'd told her that they'd be joined by Broots, Debbie and Miss Parker. She didn't mind that they'd be joined; she was actually looking forward to it. 

She'd told him about what she had seen lately and Sydney didn't know what to say. It was obvious that this would be a problem for her. He'd looked into her eyes and saw that she was lost. All he'd said was that they'd talk about it later. He couldn't help but wonder just how well she had known Lyle while he was still Bobby Bowman.

"Ah, here's Broots and Debbie now." Maddie turned and saw Broots and Debbie walking towards him. When they reached them Broots smiled at Maddie.

"No Donny and Elsie today I hope." Maddie laughed.

"I hope not either. They annoyed me in high school and they annoy me today. They used to say I was a snob, well excuse me if all I ever wanted to do was get the hell out of Nebraska." Broots laughed.

"If it helps, last night they said you aren't as big a snob as you were in high school." Maddie rolled her eyes.

"That's just great. I'm not **_as big a snob_? They obviously still think I'm a snob. I knew I didn't like them for a reason." All of them laughed. The loud clicking of heels signalled the arrival of Miss Parker.**

"Having fun?" Broots cowered away from Miss Parker while Debbie instantly went to her side, giving her a hug and Sydney smiled politely at her. Miss Parker eyed Maddie. She definitely didn't **_look_ like anyone who went to that school.**

"Miss Parker, this is Maddie Clarke." Maddie put her hand out to Miss Parker. Miss Parker eyed her and put her hand in Maddie's.

"Did you go to the reunion?" Maddie shook her head. Miss Parker became annoyed at this. "So I could have gone as you instead of **_his_ wife. I'm gonna kill Jarod." Sydney couldn't stop the laugh that came out. Broots looked hurt.**

"What's wrong with being my wife?" Miss Parker rolled her eyes. Sydney laughed louder.

"If it's any consolation you definitely wouldn't have passed for me and I'm sure everyone would have been surprised if I had gone." Maddie sighed and looked down. Miss Parker looked at her intrigued but let it pass. They all went into the restaurant and were seated. Once they had ordered, Miss Parker turned to Maddie.

"So you're here because Raines wants to adopt my baby brother?" Maddie nodded and took a sip of her drink.

"Yeah, by the way I'm sorry about what happened to make him an orphan." Miss Parker looked down. 

"It's okay. What I don't understand is why Raines **_wants_ to adopt him?" Maddie was confused but kept it to herself. "I hope you're not really considering giving the old ghoul custody." Maddie frowned.**

"Well I haven't met with Mr. Raines yet so I don't know. No one else has tried to adopt him." Miss Parker looked away. She would have liked to, but with the Centre involved, she knew she wasn't allowed. That's why it confused her about why Raines wanted to adopt him legally. "By the way, what's his first name? Mr. Cox kept calling him Master Parker but what's his **_first_ name?" Miss Parker sighed again and looked down. Sydney decided to field this question.**

"He doesn't really have one. As you know his mother died and I guess it was too hard for his father to see him so he never got…" Miss Parker butted in.

"Thomas. I named him Thomas because my father didn't **_care_ enough to name him." She looked down again. Sydney and Broots didn't know that she had named him. They were both pleased that she did but were surprised. Each noticed that she had named him Thomas obviously after Thomas Gates. Maddie smiled.**

"Thomas, I like that." Miss Parker smiled at Maddie. "It seems as though you don't like Mr. Raines very much, and if you think he'd be an unfit father to Thomas; then when I'm interviewing you formally you could always contest it and try to get custody of him yourself." Miss Parker thought about it. She'd love to do that but was it worth the risk?

"I'll think about that." Maddie smiled again. The conversation was easy until Sydney's phone rang. He excused himself to answer it and when he came back he had a concerned look on his face.

"What's wrong Syd?" Broots watched his friend uneasily.

"I'm afraid I have to go. It seems as though something is wrong with Angelo, he needs to be calmed down. I'm sorry but I have to go." Miss Parker stood up too.

  
"I'll come too. Broots you can stay here with Maddie." She gave Maddie a warm smile. She really liked the woman. Before they left, Broots spoke up.

"Call me to tell me if he's okay." Sydney and Miss Parker nodded and left the restaurant.

"Who's Angelo?" Broots looked back at Maddie.

"He's one of Sydney's patients at the Centre." Maddie nodded.

"You know I've been wondering about that. What exactly **_does_ the Centre do?" Broots shuddered. The less Maddie knew about the Centre the better.**

"You don't want to know."

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Broots and Maddie were sitting at their table drinking and talking. Debbie had gone to the bathroom leaving them alone waiting for her to get back so they could leave. Broots was laughing at something Maddie had said when he saw someone coming towards the table with an amused look on their face. He panicked and tried to think of some way to get Maddie away. Unfortunately, the person got their before he could leave.

"Well if it isn't Broots with what **_looks_ like a woman. Got a hot date tonight, Broots?" Broots tried to ignore Lyle but he wasn't going away.**

"M-Mr. Lyle p-please could you just l-leave us alone?" Lyle pulled a mock hurt face.

"I'm hurt Broots. Aren't you even going to introduce me to your date?" He walked around the table, with a smirk on his face, so he could see just what Broots' date looked like. When he saw her face he stopped in his tracks. Maddie's eye's widened as she saw Lyle. Lyle shook himself.

"M-Mr. L-Lyle…" Lyle cut him off.

"Introduce us Broots." Lyle looked at him menacingly. He had to know if this woman just had a striking resemblance or if it was the person he thought. Broots had no choice but to introduce them.

"M-Mr. L-Lyle this is M-M-Maddie C-C-Clarke." Lyle's face dropped. He turned around and left without another word. Maddie stared after him looking lost. A part of her wanted to pass out and another part wanted to chase after Lyle to find out why he looked so familiar. When she turned back to Broots her face was completely drained of colour.

"As soon as Debbie comes back I really need to go home." Broots nodded. He felt really sorry for her. It was apparent that she remembered Bobby Bowman and judging by how she was reacting she had known him well.

"Are you okay?" Maddie shook her head and if it was possible, looked more lost.

"I need to talk with Sydney." Broots nodded. He spotted Debbie coming and stood up.

"I'll take you back to my place and call Syd so you can talk to him." Maddie nodded.

"Thank you Broots."

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Maddie was lying on Broots' couch. She still hadn't regained most of the colour in her face and she looked ready to pass out at any moment. As soon as Broots had gotten home, he had called Sydney and told him what had happened. He and Miss Parker were on their way over to Broots' house to try and help Maddie. Broots had been out of the room and when he came back in he heard Maddie and Debbie talking.

"He looks like a friend of mine I grew up with, but it couldn't be him." Broots leant against the door frame and listened.

"Why couldn't it be him?" Maddie sighed at Debbie's innocent question and put her head down.

"He died when we were about your age. That was a really bad year for me. He was a friend of my cousin, Jimmy. Jimmy and Bobby were best friends so I was friends with Bobby because of that. Bobby was a really good friend to me and after Jimmy went missing we got… really close. Then I found…," Maddie stopped herself and looked at Debbie, alarmed, "then Bobby died. It was really bad for me." 

Broots was shocked. He was pretty sure that Jimmy was the name of the person Lyle killed and used as his body when Bobby Bowman died. To make it worse it sounded like Maddie had been the person who found the body.

"So Mr. Lyle looks like your friend Bobby? I can see why you almost passed out." Maddie nodded.

"I went through a time of thinking I saw him everywhere, it was a really bad time in my life. I thought I put that behind me, but I guess I haven't. It's really weird though because I hadn't seen him around for years and now…" She was cut off by the doorbell ringing. Broots rushed into the room and went to answer the door. Before letting Sydney and Miss Parker in he informed them of what he had just overheard.

"What are we going to do Syd?" Sydney frowned. He had no idea what they **_could_** do. 

"I think the best thing to do would be to just talk to her. Maybe she can come up with something and we won't have to tell her." All three nodded and went into the lounge room. Maddie looked at them and smiled weakly. Sydney came and sat down next to her.

"Sydney, I saw him again. What the hell is wrong with me?" Sydney sighed.

"What happened, in your words?" Maddie sighed and sat up completely.

"This guy you all work with, I'm pretty sure he's the same one I saw today, came and… he looks so much like Bobby." Maddie put her head down. It was obvious to everyone that she needed an explanation.

"Maybe Lyle just looks like him. I mean, you don't know what Bobby would have looked like, it's probably a coincidence." Broots and Sydney stared at Miss Parker, dumbfounded. She was actually trying to help Maddie and they were shocked. Maddie sighed again and nodded.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Maddie went to stand up but stopped halfway. She looked at Miss Parker. "You said Lyle. I didn't say his name." Miss Parker didn't know what to say. She hadn't meant to say Lyle's name.

"I told them who it was when they first came." Maddie nodded. Miss Parker relaxed and shot Broots a grateful look. Maddie stood up again.

"I'm sorry. You all must think I'm crazy." She turned to Broots and smiled. "Thank you for putting up with me tonight." Broots smiled at her. Maddie started getting her things together. "Other than the thing that almost made me pass out I had a nice night. I'll see you tomorrow. I have a lot of work to go through." Everyone stood up and said their goodbyes to her. Sydney offered to drive her back to the hotel she was staying in. Sydney said goodbye to everyone as well. As soon as they were gone Broots turned to Miss Parker worriedly.

"She's going to freak out when she's got to interview Lyle. And, oh, what about Lyle? I could tell that he recognised her. What's going to happen?" Miss Parker sighed. She really had no idea. All she **_did_ know was that it wouldn't be good.**

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Lyle was sitting in the middle of his bedroom with things scattered all around him. They were things from his life as Bobby Bowman. As soon as he had seen Maddie he had come home and gotten all his old things out. They had all been in a chest under his bed and he hadn't looked at them for years. After seeing Maddie he felt he had to look at them.

In his hands he held a picture of Bobby, Maddie and Jimmy. Maddie was standing in the middle of the two boys and had her arms around both of them. Looking at the picture it was easy to see that Bobby liked Maddie. Instead of looking at the camera as the other two were, Bobby was only looking at Maddie and there was a look in his eyes that gave away his real feelings for her.

Lyle sighed and put the picture down. He wondered what Maddie was doing in Blue Cove and, more important, what she was doing with Broots on, what looked like, a date. He started to put all the things back in the chest. He sighed again as he pushed the chest back under the bed.

"At least I won't have to see her again."

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Maddie sat in Mr. Raines' office, waiting. She was going to meet Mr. Raines himself as well as his son. She looked at her watch and started drumming her fingernails on the arm of her chair. If Raines didn't come soon she'd have no choice but to give him a bad report.

"Miss Clarke, I'm sorry I kept you waiting. I had to pick up Master Parker first." Maddie turned around and saw Mr. Raines walking into the room. Mr. Cox was walking behind him, carrying Master Parker. When Master Parker saw Maddie his face lit up.

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Raines." Maddie put her hand out to him but Raines just looked at her. Maddie brought her hand back awkwardly. "Okay, well I just have a few questions to ask you." Raines nodded. Cox was sitting in the seat next to Maddie with Master Parker on his lap, but the toddler was squirming.

"Sir, he won't sit still." Maddie started laughing.

"He's three years old. I don't think there's a three year old alive that **_can_** sit still. Do you mind if I…?" Maddie put her arms out to the child. Mr. Cox looked at Raines for confirmation on what to do. Raines stared at Maddie pensively then nodded. Mr. Cox gladly handed Master Parker over to Maddie so the squirming child wasn't on his lap anymore. As soon as Master Parker was in Maddie's arms he calmed down and almost fell asleep on her lap. Maddie smiled and started stroking his hair.

"Interesting, I wasn't aware a person in your position had much to do with children other than to place them." Maddie looked up at Mr. Raines.

"Kids like me. Now, like I said, I have a few questions to ask you…" Maddie was cut off by the doors behind her opening. She turned her head and saw Mr. Lyle walking confidently into the room. She froze for a moment then looked away quickly.

"Ah, Lyle, about time you showed up. I'd like you to meet Madelyn Clarke from the Langford Adoption Agency." Lyle slowed in his stride. So this is what Maddie was in Blue Cove for. It still didn't make sense to him why she had been with Broots the night before though.

"Yes, I've already met her. It's nice to see you again Miss Clarke." Maddie smiled uneasily at him and tried to avoid eye contact.

"It's nice to meet you as well Mr. Lyle and please, it's Maddie." Maddie kept staring ahead as Lyle moved to sit on the other side of her. He noticed that she was holding Master Parker and he was now fast asleep in her arms. He had never seen his baby brother so calm before. "Um, Mr. Raines, w-why exactly do you want to adopt Master Parker?" Mr. Raines smiled at her. Maddie couldn't help but cringe. His smile seemed somewhat evil to her.

"He's my brother's son and he has no where else to go. I want him to have me as his family forever." Maddie nodded. She had a notepad out and was writing his answer down, holding the notepad to the side and away from Master Parker. She could feel that Mr. Lyle was watching her and tried to ignore it as best she could.

"What advantages could you give Master Parker?" Raines indicated the room around them.

"I am the chairman here. I can give Master Parker the best things money could buy." Maddie nodded and made a note of the financial benefits he would have. She dropped her pen but couldn't pick it up without disturbing Master Parker.

"Here, let me get that for you." Maddie looked at Lyle in surprise. The way he had just spoken he had sounded like Bobby. She took the pen off him with trembling hands. She felt like she was going to pass out again.

"Could you excuse me for a moment?" Maddie stood up and laid the sleeping Master Parker in her seat. She walked out of the room. She needed air. Raines and Cox looked at her confused.

"Lyle, follow her. See where she went." It was obvious they were worried she had left because of them. Lyle nodded and walked out of the room. He looked around and saw Maddie going into the ladies room. He walked over to the ladies room, knocked on the door and opened it slightly.

"Maddie, are you alright?" Maddie stood at the sink, splashing her face with water. She looked at the door through the mirror.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just…" She sighed and started splashing her face with water again. Lyle sighed and opened the door wider.

"I'm coming in. Is anyone else in there?" Maddie looked at the open doors of the stalls.

"No, I'm by myself. But you really don't have to…" Before she could finish, Lyle walked into the room. He looked around as he moved to stand next to her.

"So this is what the inside of the ladies room look like." He grinned at her and it reminded Maddie so much of Bobby's grin. She splashed some more water on her face.

"Look, I'm alright. You didn't have to come in here." She turned the tap off and got a paper towel to dry her face. Lyle knew better than to believe her.

"Something's obviously bothering you so you might as well tell me." Lyle wasn't aware of what he had said. Maddie had a flash of Bobby saying those exact words to her. 

**_Maddie sat on a swing on the swing set in her backyard. She was swinging slightly and staring ahead at the yard in front of her. Her eyes had a faraway look in them and she didn't notice Bobby walking up to sit next to her._**

****

**_"Hey, what are you doing?" Maddie didn't answer him and kept staring in front of her. Bobby turned to look at her and saw the faraway look in her eyes. Grabbing hold of her shoulder gently, he shook her slightly to try and get her attention. Maddie snapped out of her reverie and looked around for a few moments before her gaze fell on Bobby._**

****

**_"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you say something?" She swept some hair behind her ear and crinkled her forehead, trying to figure out whether he had spoken._**

****

**_"Yeah, I asked what you were doing." Maddie sighed. She looked down at her hands then back out over the yard._**

****

**_"I'm not doing much. I was just thinking." Bobby nodded. He had a pretty fair idea about what she had been thinking of._**

****

**_"Well if you want to talk about anything I'm right here." He reached out and took her hand, giving it a slight squeeze then letting it go again. Maddie sighed and pushed herself so she was swinging more._**

****

**_"It's okay. I don't need to talk, but thanks for the offer." Bobby nodded. He knew that something was bothering her and that if she didn't let it out it would devour her. Maddie again got the far away look in her eyes and stopped swinging completely. She got off the swing and walked over to a table overlooking the fence line of her family's property. Bobby got up and followed her, also staring out at the fence line, before turning to face her._**

****

**_"Something's obviously bothering you so you might as well tell me." Maddie looked at Bobby, tears welling in her eyes. She took a deep, shuddering breath and ran a hand through her hair._**

****

**_"He's not coming back, is he?" Bobby sighed and put his hand on her shoulder. Maddie turned to face him completely. "I kept thinking that he would come back. But Jimmy would never leave _****_willingly without saying goodbye to me. So that means he _****_didn't leave willingly. He's not coming back." The tears in her eyes started pouring down her cheeks. Bobby pulled her to him and held her tight._**

****

**_"You can't give up hope. I don't want you to _****_ever give up hope, you hear me?" Maddie nodded into his chest. "See, it's alright, you don't have to cry." Maddie pulled away from him and smiled slightly. Bobby wiped the tears away and kissed her forehead._**

A sob escaped her lips and she went back to splashing water on her face. She started thinking that maybe if she just turned the tap on and stuck her head in the water that it would all go away. There would be no more painful memories and no more people who reminded her of those painful memories.

"You… you remind me of someone I used to know." Lyle knew who she was talking about but obviously had to play dumb. He couldn't admit that he was the person she used to know.

"I'm guessing you either don't like this person or you like them a lot." He grinned at her again. Maddie sighed and looked into the mirror. She was staring in his direction but she didn't see him, her stare was empty.

"He… he was my boyfriend." She sighed and turned the tap off. "He died." She walked away, leaving Lyle standing dumbfounded. He knew what **_he_** had felt for **_her_** and he knew they had been close, but he never thought she had thought that about **_him_**.

Realising he was now standing in the ladies room by himself, he turned and walked away. He saw Maddie entering Raines' office again. He walked over to the doors and peaked inside.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I can't stay. I've got some work to do." Raines waved him off. Maddie didn't turn to look at him again but Lyle was staring at the back of her head. He sighed and walked away.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Maddie was pacing around Sydney's office. She wanted to go home and forget ever seeing Lyle. It hurt too much and brought out memories she would rather forget. It unnerved her that Lyle not only **_looked_** like Bobby but also **_sounded_** like him and said things he would. 

"Maddie, calm down, I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation as to why Lyle reminds you so much of Bobby." Maddie stopped pacing and turned to face Sydney.

"Like what? I'm crazy? Yeah, that's probably it, I'm crazy. I swear; next **_Jimmy's_** going to walk through that door." Maddie stared at the door for a moment; she looked frightened that that would actually happen. Sydney saw his opportunity to find out more information.

"You never told me about Jimmy. Why don't you sit down and tell me why you connect these two." Maddie nodded and moved mechanically to sit down.

"Jimmy was my cousin. He lived right up the road from me so we were always close. Bobby and Jimmy were best friends and a lot of the time the three of us were inseparable. But Jimmy went missing; we searched for him but never found him. Bobby looked after me, made sure I was alright. We were both hurting over losing Jimmy and… well lets just say my feelings for Bobby deepened. Then…" Maddie stopped, wiping tears from her eyes, "Bobby went missing as well. We searched for him as well and I found… I found his body. God, I just want to forget all of this. It's too painful." Sydney sighed and moved to give her a hug.

"It's alright Maddie. You're just here for a little while anyway. As soon as you make your decision about Baby Parker you can leave." Maddie nodded and stood up.

"I know. It's not so bad unless I'm actually **_around_ Mr. Lyle." She sighed and stood up. "Thanks for listening. I've got some work to do so I'll just… go." Sydney nodded and led her to the door. He went back to sit at his desk, staring ahead thoughtfully. Lyle stepped out of the shadows behind him.**

"I didn't kill him you know." Sydney turned to Lyle. Lyle had already been in his office when Maddie had come. He had told Sydney all about how he knew Maddie and had wanted help. When Maddie had knocked at Sydney's door Lyle had hidden himself so she wouldn't see him. Lyle sighed. "I know what it looks like, but I didn't kill Jimmy. He was like a brother to me." He walked around the desk and sat in the seat Maddie had been sitting in.

"Tell me what happened, Lyle." Lyle looked down.

"Well, Jimmy went missing and we searched for him, like Maddie said. The only thing is… I found him. I didn't find him until the search had been called off. My father," he spat the word out in disgust, "had locked me in the shed, I know you know about him doing that, and he was taunting me. He said he had killed Jimmy a few days earlier. Jimmy had gotten me out of the shed heaps of times and this pissed off my father. He'd basically kidnapped Jimmy and had kept him alive for a few days then he had killed him. He got him out of the way. He showed me the body and I got angry. I knew there was no way to tie him to the murder so I… it was the only thing I could do. I cut Jimmy's head off and… well you know the rest." Lyle slumped in his seat. "I never meant to hurt her, Syd. I planned on going to her and telling her the truth but Raines stopped me. He took me away and I never got to tell her." Sydney scratched his chin.

"You cared for her didn't you?" Lyle smiled remembering his feelings for her.

"Yes, I did." Sydney nodded.

"Did you ever **_tell_** her how you felt?" Lyle looked up at Sydney confused.

"No, I didn't. I didn't think she liked me like that. She was always dating the football and basketball players, I thought she'd laugh at me. Sydney," Lyle lowered his voice and looked around the room, "I was in the Farmer's of Tomorrow Club. I didn't think she'd… but I was wrong." Sydney looked at him intrigued.

"How do you know?" Lyle smiled.

"I told you I went to see what was wrong with her. She referred to Bobby as her boyfriend." Sydney nodded.

"Lyle, I think you've got to tell her the truth." Lyle looked at him alarmed. "I know you're scared, but she deserves to know. She thinks she's going crazy." Lyle sighed. He didn't want her to think that, but he didn't know what she'd say if he told her the truth.

"I… Sydney, I can't." Sydney shook his head.

"You were going to **_before_**. She has a right to know." Lyle nodded.

"Alright Syd, but just remember; **_you_ told me to tell her." Sydney nodded. Lyle stood up and left Sydney's office, trying to come up with a way to tell her the truth.**

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Maddie was lying on her bed in her hotel room. She didn't want to move or do anything. Donny and Elsie had already come and knocked on her door, asking her to go out to dinner with them. It was their last night there. Maddie had told them she was feeling ill and just wanted to get some sleep. They'd come back and asked her a few times more and she had continued to tell them no.

The last thing she needed right now was an evening out with Donny and Elsie. The last time she'd been to dinner with them they hadn't brought up Bobby or Jimmy and she was sure they would if she went with them this time. That wasn't a conversation she wanted to have at that time. When there was a knock on the door, Maddie groaned, got off the bed and stomped over to the door.

"For the last time, I told you I don't want to go out tonight." Maddie looked at the person standing at the door and immediately felt bad. "Bobby," she whispered but soon caught herself, "… sorry about that." Lyle stared at her amused.

"Having trouble?" Maddie sighed and leant her head against the door.

"Two **_very_** annoying people I went to high school with are in town as well and they keep begging me to go to dinner. That's who I thought was at the door, sorry." Lyle nodded and started wondering who **_else_** from his high school was in Blue Cove.

"It's okay. Uh, can I come in?" Maddie tensed. At that moment she would gladly have a conversation with Donny and Elsie about Jimmy and Bobby. At least neither of them looked, sounded and acted like Bobby.

"What do you want?" Lyle sighed.

"I… could we talk?" Maddie tensed again. Lyle looked like he could start pouting at any moment and that was a look Bobby always gave her. She sighed and stepped out of the doorway, letting him enter. Lyle smiled and walked inside. Maddie closed the door and started wondering why she was letting him in.

"So, Mr. Lyle," she had to keep saying his name to remind herself that he wasn't Bobby, "what did you want to talk about?" Lyle didn't know what to say. Should he juts come out and tell her that he **_was_ Bobby?**

"Uh, can we sit down?" Maddie nodded and sat on the couch. Lyle sat next to her, making sure he kept some distance between them so as not to spook her. "I don't know where to begin." Maddie smiled. She remembered Bobby saying that before. She had never known what he wanted to talk to her about; he hadn't been able to tell her.

"How about starting with the beginning? The beginning's good." Maddie smirked. She felt like she was having that conversation with Bobby. Lyle smiled as well.

"Yes, the beginning would be good." Lyle realised that he hadn't felt so awkward since he **_was_** Bobby Bowman, talking to Maddie.

"The beginning is very good." Maddie smiled but stopped when she realised what she was doing. This wasn't Bobby she was talking to, this was Mr. Lyle. "I'm sorry; will you excuse me for a moment?" She went to stand up but Lyle stopped her.

"Wait, please." Maddie looked into his eyes. She felt like it was Bobby staring back at her. She sat back down and ran her hand over his face. Lyle watched her, wondering what she was doing.

"So much like him." She crinkled her forehead in confusion. "How can you be so much like him?" Lyle sighed.

"There's a reason for that." Maddie didn't know what he meant so she dismissed it. She moved her hand to caress his cheek.

"I know this will sound crazy but, do you mind if I… if I do something I never got to do with Bobby?" Lyle nodded slowly, wondering what she was talking about. Maddie leant forward and gently put her lips to Lyle's. Lyle was taken aback, he wasn't expecting this. Maddie started out kissing him innocently but she moved closer to him and deepened the kiss. Lyle moaned and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her even closer to him. This was something he had wanted to do as well; he had just never thought she wanted to. 

Maddie opened her mouth and let Lyle slip his tongue inside her mouth. She suddenly opened her eyes and pulled away. She looked at Lyle for a moment. A voice in her head was screaming at her, telling her that she was stupid for doing that. Lyle looked at Maddie not knowing what to do, only knowing he wanted to pull her back into his arms and continue kissing her. 

Maddie closed her eyes, silencing the voice in her head and leant forward again, continuing to kiss Lyle. As soon as the contact between their lips was made again, Lyle started to run his hands over her body. Maddie moaned and leant back, pulling on Lyle's jacket so he was on top of her. She moved her hands up and started to undo his tie then started to push his jacket off his shoulders.

"This is wrong, I shouldn't be doing this. This can't be healthy." Lyle ignored her statement and started kissing his way down her neck. "Wait, stop, this is so wrong." Lyle lifted his head up to look at her. Maddie leant forward and kissed him again then pulled away again. "No, I can't." Lyle sighed and put his head down.

"Don't do this to me Maddox; I've wanted to do this for the longest time." He leant forward and started kissing her again. He hadn't realised he had used his childhood nickname for her. Maddie got lost in the kiss until she realised what Lyle had said.

"Wait, you called me Maddox. Bobby?" Lyle nodded slowly. Maddie gasped in shock. "You're alive?" Lyle nodded again. He leant down to kiss her again but she pushed him off her, making him land on the floor with a loud thud. "You bastard, you let me think you were dead! How could you do that to me?" Lyle looked up at her and saw the flames in her eyes. He stood up slowly.

"Maddox, please, you've got to listen to me." Maddie laughed.

"I can't listen to you, you're a dead man. Oh god, next you're going to tell me Jimmy is here too." There was a spark of hope in her eyes. Lyle looked down sadly.

"No, Jimmy's not here. He's dead." Maddie stared at Lyle, not sure whether she should believe him, when a thought hit her.

"W-whose body did I find?" Lyle didn't answer her. "Bobby, whose body did I find if it wasn't yours?" Lyle looked at her sadly.

"It was Jimmy's." Maddie's eyes widened. She felt like she was going to throw up.

"Y-you killed Jimmy?" Lyle shook his head and took a step closer to her. Maddie moved away from him.

"I didn't kill Jimmy, my father did. He showed me the body and I knew what I had to do." Maddie stared at him in disbelief. "I was going to tell you but I couldn't get to you. I'm sorry Maddox." Maddie shook her head as Lyle stepped closer to her again. She really wanted to throw up.

"I think you should leave." Lyle opened his mouth to say something, but she stopped him. "Please, just leave." Lyle put his head down and started walking towards the door. When he got to the door, he turned to face Maddie.

"Maddox, you can't tell anyone from the Centre about this. You can't let them know you know me." Maddie stared at him in shock.

"What?" Lyle sighed.

"Please, you can't tell anyone, especially Raines and Cox. If they find out that you knew me as Bobby Bowman then you'll be in danger." Maddie stared at him open mouthed. "If Raines realises who you are… please, don't let anyone know." Maddie stared into his eyes and saw that he was telling the truth. She nodded then closed the door in his face.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

The next day at the Centre, Maddie was standing in the hallway talking to Miss Parker. She didn't tell her about her discovery the night before but she really wanted to go talk to Sydney about it. Lyle walked through the hallway and saw Maddie. He walked over towards her with a smile on his face.

"It's nice to see you again Maddie." Maddie looked at Lyle then turned away from him angrily.

"Mr. Lyle." She nodded her greeting then turned to Miss Parker. "How about we have that interview now Miss Parker?" Without letting her answer she started walking away. Miss Parker looked at Lyle, confused for a moment, then followed after Maddie. Lyle watched Maddie walk away with a frown on his face.

Maddie walked into Miss Parker's office and sat down. Miss Parker walked in after her, dumbfounded. She went to sit in her seat behind her desk, all the while watching Maddie. She could tell something was wrong.

"What's with the attitude?" Maddie looked at Miss Parker. Lyle had told her not to let anyone at the Centre know and that included Miss Parker.

"It's, uh, easier that way. You know how he reminds me of my friend." Miss Parker nodded. She knew that she wasn't telling her the truth and that there was more to it than that, but didn't want to press it.

"Oh, does it work?" Maddie was staring pensively into space.

"Huh?" Miss Parker furrowed her eyebrows.

"The attitude with Lyle, does it work?" Maddie seemed to not know what Miss Parker was talking about for a moment but then she remembered.

"Oh, uh yeah, it does. Now, do you think Mr. Raines would be a good father to Thomas?" She gave Miss Parker a smile using the name she had told her she had named Master Parker. She knew not to use it around anyone other than Miss Parker, Sydney and Broots.

"To be perfectly honest, no I don't." Maddie looked at Miss Parker for a moment. She remembered Miss Parker's reaction to when she found out that Raines was planning on adopting Thomas. "As a matter of fact I think he shouldn't even be allowed **_near_** Tommy." Miss Parker took a deep breath. "That's why **_I_** want to try and adopt him." Maddie looked at Miss Parker stunned. She thought it was a good idea but just wasn't expecting it.

"Well then, I guess the interview about Raines is over. Tell me Miss Parker, why do **_you_** want to adopt Tommy?"

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Maddie was walking through the halls of the Centre on her way home. She'd interviewed Miss Parker, Sydney and Broots. All three had said that Raines should not get custody of Thomas and that Miss Parker was a better choice. Maddie had to agree with them. Miss Parker had taken her to see Tommy in the nursery he was kept in and Tommy seemed to get on with Miss Parker better than he did with Raines, although she didn't think Tommy even **_liked_ Raines. It was also obvious that Miss Parker loved Tommy and vice versa. Love was something that was missing in Raines relationship with Tommy and that, she had found, was one of the most important things.**

When Maddie walked past Lyle's office, Lyle stopped her. Maddie stared at him and tried to move out of the way. Every time she moved, Lyle moved in front of her. She sighed and looked at him.

"Miss Clarke, I'd like to speak with you about Master Parker." Maddie looked up and nodded knowing that she couldn't get away from him if it was about business. Lyle opened his office door for her and she walked in before him. Lyle walked in and shut the door, locking it securely behind him. He turned to Maddie and saw that she was watching him.

"What do you want Lyle?" Lyle sighed. She'd been calling him Bobby the night before, but now she was calling him Lyle again. This was not a good sign. 

"Maddox, please, let me explain." Maddie went to sit down, not looking at him anymore.

"No one's called me Maddox in years. Maddox is gone. Do you even know that Maddox is a boy's name?" Lyle laughed.

"I know, I found out after I left." Both Maddie and Lyle frowned.

"I'm not a boy Lyle, so I'm not Maddox. And however much you look like Bobby, you are **_not_** him." Lyle sighed and walked over to her. He didn't like how she kept calling him Lyle. It seemed cold somehow.

"I **_am_** Bobby, I've just changed." Maddie put her hands in her lap and stared at them.

"How could you do that? **_I_** found the body, Lyle." He nodded and also looked down.

"I know, you weren't meant to find it." Maddie kept her eyes glued on her hands. Lyle looked back up at her desperately. "I **_wanted_ to tell you, I was **_on my way_** to tell you but I never made it there. Remember my counsellor?" Maddie nodded. "He found out what I'd done and he took me away. I'm so sorry I hurt you. I never wanted to hurt you." Maddie got angry. That was the stupidest thing she'd ever heard.**

"How could that **_not_** hurt me? You faked your death and left me." Lyle looked down again.

"I… I didn't think you'd care as much as you did and I **_did_ plan on telling you. I didn't know how you felt about me." Maddie looked at Lyle.**

"I loved Bobby with all of my heart. When he died it nearly killed me." Lyle didn't like how she was referring to Bobby instead of saying 'you'. "First I'd lost Jimmy, who was more of a brother to me than a cousin, and then I lost Bobby. It took me years to get over it." Lyle sighed.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He bent down and knelt at her feet. "It took me years to get over it as well. For years I'd dream of Jimmy, about what happened to him. And then I'd dream about you. I'd wonder what you were doing, if you missed me. I missed **_you_** so much. I'm sorry that I put you through that pain but my father would have gotten away with killing Jimmy and I couldn't let that happen. It was the only thing I could think of to do." Maddie stared forward, over his head. Lyle sighed and reached forward to take her hands. Maddie pulled them away.

"It doesn't matter how **_noble_** your intentions were. You can't just apologise and make it better, Lyle. It doesn't work that way." Lyle could see tears welling in her eyes. He reached forward again and took her hands. Maddie didn't pull them away this time, but she flinched when he touched her.

"I know it doesn't. But I **_am_ sorry. I wish I could go back and change it but I can't. I'm sorry." He brought her hands to his lips and kissed her finger tips. "I'm so sorry." He moved up and kissed her wrists. He leant closer to her as tears started to fall down her cheeks. She was still looking forward, trying not to look at him. "I never meant to hurt you." He kissed one of her cheeks. "I'm sorry." He kissed her other cheek. "I hope one day you can forgive me." He kissed her forehead. "I'm so sorry." He leant forward and kissed her lips. Maddie didn't move. Lyle looked at her lips and then moved forward again. "I'm sorry."**

Maddie could feel his breath on her lips and it sent a shiver down her spine. Lyle gently kissed her again and Maddie started reacting, she couldn't help it. Lyle pulled away again and looked into her eyes. She was now looking **_at_** him instead of over his head. Lyle brought his hand up to her cheek and leant forward to kiss her again. It started out as gently as the others but as he felt her respond, he deepened the kiss. The hand that wasn't on her cheek came up behind her head and held her to him.

"No, stop." Maddie pulled away from him and put her hands squarely in the middle of his chest, keeping him away. "You can't just kiss me and make it better, Bobby. I mourned you; I don't want to do it again." She pushed him away and stood up. She wiped the tears from her eyes and turned to the door.

"You called me Bobby again." He smiled at her but she had her back turned to him.

"I'll be back tomorrow to interview you about Master Parker's adoption." She walked to the door, unlocked it and walked away. Lyle smiled and sat in her vacated seat. He brought his hand to his lips. He'd been dreaming about kissing her since he was ten years old and he'd finally done it… more than once. He knew he had a chance for her forgiveness, and maybe more, he just had to wait.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Maddie made it to her hotel room before bursting out in tears. She slumped on her bed and just cried her heart out. When she'd said that she didn't want to mourn him again she knew that she'd have to. Now that she knew he was alive, anytime she thought about him she'd mourn him. She'd mourn the fact that they hadn't been able to finish growing up together; she'd mourn what could have been but hadn't been allowed. Now, instead of mourning his death she'd mourn his life.

It wasn't like she was upset that he was alive, in fact her feelings about it couldn't be further from being upset; she was just shocked. For years she'd had a hurt feeling in the pit of her stomach over losing Bobby, but now that hurt feeling had changed. She was now hurting over the fact that she'd **_had_** that hurt feeling for all those years for no real reason. 

Lyle might say that he was going to tell her the truth because he didn't want to hurt her but the truth was that he'd had **_years_ to find her to tell her the truth but hadn't, and that hurt even more. All of a sudden he wanted to set things straight; but only because she had turned up in his new life. The fact of the matter was that if Maddie hadn't gone to Blue Cove and to the Centre, she never would have known the truth. **

He seemed to want to get back to how things used to be, maybe even more than things used to be, but she didn't know whether she could let that happen. She still loved him, she always had, but she wasn't sure whether she could let him into her heart again. Bobby would always have a place in her heart, but could she let the man he'd **_become_ into her heart, whether it be through friendship or more? **

Maddie turned over onto her back and stared at the ceiling. So many things had happened and she was confused. In some ways it seemed as though her deepest dreams had come true, in other ways it seemed as though it was her worst nightmares. Bobby was alive but Jimmy was dead. She'd always carried a bit of hope that Jimmy was alive and that she'd find him one day, but now she knew that could never happen. She had found Bobby although she'd given up hope of ever seeing him again. 

She started thinking back to Lyle's apology. Could she really accept it? Did she even want to? Of course she wanted to, she'd dreamt of a moment like this for years, but she still didn't know if she could. All of a sudden he was alive and there were **_so_** many possibilities, but the fact remained that Bobby had grown up and had changed. Could he still be the person she had loved or was he gone forever? She didn't know the person he was today, didn't even know if she'd like him. Sighing, she decided to get some sleep. Maybe her dilemma would be easier to sort out in the morning.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

**_Maddie walked through the trees. She had tears in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. If they fell, that would be like she was admitting that he was gone forever and deep down in her heart, she knew he wasn't. Bobby had probably just run away, god knows how many times he'd talked about running away. He'd talked about what his foster father was like and even _****_she wanted to run away so she wasn't in the same _**_town as the monster Mr. Bowman was. Her thoughts drifted to Jimmy. She had been so sure that _******_he'd come home in a few days but he hadn't and she knew now that he was probably dead, but she didn't want to face that realisation with Bobby._**

****

**_Bobby had been acting up at home, this she knew. He'd sneak off at all hours and wouldn't return until much later. Mrs. Bowman would always call Maddie asking where Bobby was and she'd lie and say she didn't know. She _****_always knew where Bobby was because most times he was with her or at least told her where he was going. After she'd hang up the phone from Mrs. Bowman, Bobby would be upset; he loved his foster mother a lot but couldn't stand his foster father. Sometimes, Mr. Bowman would come over and take Bobby home kicking and screaming; that was what Mr. Bowman had wanted to do when Maddie had faced the realisation that she might never see Bobby again. _**

****

**_Mrs. Bowman had called on the first day Bobby went missing, which was nothing new. The only thing different to all the other times was that this time; Bobby wasn't there and Maddie didn't know where he was. At first, Maddie had shrugged it off, figuring that Bobby was either hiding out at home somewhere, like he had done a few times before, or Mr. Bowman had him locked up in that damned shed. _**

****

**_The next day, Maddie had gotten worried. Bobby hadn't turned up at school. Bobby _****_always turned up at school, even when he had been locked in the shed only an hour earlier. So, after school she'd gone over to the Bowman house to look for him. She'd brought his homework and taken it up to his room. She'd looked around all the places she knew he liked to hide and then had checked out the shed when the Bowman's weren't paying attention. When she'd left, Mr. Bowman had sneered at her and said that she should stop her worried act and send Bobby home. She'd ignored him and went home, all the while worrying about where Bobby was._**

****

**_On the third day Bobby was missing, Maddie had checked out all the places they hung out. She'd left an open notebook and a pen on her bed in case Bobby went to her room while she was gone; they did that when they knew they'd miss each other and wanted to leave a note. But when she'd come back home, she'd been disappointed when there was no writing in the book and she still hadn't had luck with her search. _**

****

**_On the fourth day, Mr. Bowman had come over to her house in search of Bobby. He tore up her room and looked around her family's property, but after that search, he had come back empty handed. He had left word with her parents that if they saw Bobby to send him home immediately. After he'd left, her parents had interrogated her about where Bobby was, thinking that she really _****_did know where he was. When she had burst into tears and began sobbing that she was really worried about him, they knew she was telling the truth saying she didn't know where he was._**

****

**_On the fifth and sixth days, Maddie had gotten more and more worried. She slept in Bobby's bed, hoping that he'd come back at night and also to feel closer to him, but he hadn't come. Her school work was forgotten for those two days and she blew off a date while waiting for Bobby. It now seemed as though she would be dedicating the rest of her life searching for Bobby._**

****

**_On the seventh day, the missing persons report was filed and the search was started. They looked in all the same places they had looked for Jimmy. Maddie couldn't seem to stop crying. She'd already gone through this with Jimmy just a short while ago and now she was doing the same thing with Bobby, it broke her heart. _**

****

**_She'd heard whispers that this was the boys plan. People were saying that Jimmy and Bobby were camping out somewhere and were running away. Her parents had placed _****_her on watch, thinking that if the boys were running away together, that she'd soon join them. People started thinking that the three of them had planned this and therefore Maddie knew where to find the boys. Everyone was convinced that Maddie would soon join them and were watching her closely, hoping she'd lead them to the other two._**

****

**_It was now a week to the day that Bobby had gone missing. He'd been gone for eight days now, without any word, and Maddie was worried. When she reached a clearing she saw a pick-up truck- a familiar pick-up truck- in the distance. It belonged to Mr. Bowman and he had reported it stolen. This was one of the reasons everyone thought Bobby had just run away. If he'd taken the truck it was obvious that he was going somewhere. A ray of hope shone on Maddie._**

****

**_She ran towards the truck and opened the door, hoping to see Bobby asleep on the seat. He wasn't there and the tears in her eyes started to fall. On the floor, she saw Bobby's lucky baseball cap, he always wore it. She stopped crying. Maybe this meant he _****_did take the truck but he had gone somewhere and would be back, there was no way he'd leave his cap in an abandoned car so therefore, in her mind; that meant he'd be back._**

****

**_Maddie took the cap and shut the door. She wandered to the back of the truck, looking for any other sign of Bobby, or even Jimmy. Maybe everyone was right and they _****_had planned this out. The only thing wrong with that was that if that was true, they hadn't included her. After not being able to find any other sign of Bobby, or any sign _****_at all of Jimmy, Maddie sighed. She leant against the truck and waited, hoping Bobby would be back soon. _**

****

**_A smell started wafting from the back of the truck, so Maddie went to investigate. She pulled the back of the truck down and peered into the back. What she saw there made the colour drain from her face. She stumbled away from the truck and fell over. She stared at the ground for a moment, hoping that what she'd seen was just a figment of her imagination. Looking up again, she saw a foot dangling over the edge of the truck and on the sole of the shoe on the foot was scrawled the name Bobby. _**

****

**_She stood up and ran, ran as far and as fast as she could. She made it back to town and promptly threw up into a garbage can. Danny Medner saw her throwing up and went over to help her; curious as to why she was throwing up. Once she'd emptied the contents of her stomach, she fell back to sit on the ground and started crying. Danny knelt next to her and rubbed her back, trying to soothe her._**

****

**_"What's wrong Maddie? Are you alright?" Maddie stopped crying and stared up at Danny. She could hardly see him through the tears in her eyes and she didn't really know what to say._**

****

**_"I- I found Bobby." Her voice was barely above a whisper and Danny was straining to hear it. He looked at her with wide eyes. He'd always liked Maddie and was worried about why finding Bobby had gotten her so upset. It was now common knowledge what she felt for Bobby, so seeing her like this meant that something bad had happened._**

****

**_"What did he do?" He thought that Bobby had yelled at her or hit her or… worse. It never occurred to him that Bobby was dead. Like everyone else, he had thought everything was just a plan between Jimmy and Bobby, and maybe even Maddie, to get out of town. He started thinking that maybe Bobby had changed his mind about letting Maddie come along and that got Danny angry. He was the star of the wrestling team and if he needed to, he would beat some sense into Bobby. _**

****

**_Maddie looked at him confused. She didn't understand what he meant, but then it clicked. He thought Bobby was alive, that he had done something to her. She shook her head and tried to stand up. She really didn't need to burden _****_him with what she had seen._**

****

**_"I've got to go find the sheriff." She couldn't stand up and Danny got her to sit down again. His jaw tightened and he made a fist._**

****

**_"What did Bobby do to you?" Danny stood up himself and started looking around; hoping Bobby was in the area. Maddie shook her head and stood up, facing him._**

****

**_"He didn't _****_do anything. I found Bobby's _****_body. He's… he's… he's dead." Maddie started crying again and the feeling of wanting to throw up came back. She collapsed into Danny's arms, blacking out, and leaving a very shocked Danny holding her._**

****

**_The night thing she knew she was waking up in the sheriff's office with the sheriff, her parents, and Danny Medner looking down at her concerned. The sheriff handed her a cup of water and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. Maddie looked around the room and saw Mrs. Bowman in one of the seats on the other side of the office, wringing a tea towel in her hands, and Mr. Bowman staring out of the window, disinterestedly. The sheriff cleared his throat, getting her attention back._**

****

**_"Danny here says that you told him you found Bobby?" Maddie looked into the sheriff's eyes and saw that he already knew _****_exactly what she had told Danny. She nodded and took a sip of the drink._**

****

**_"How can we believe _****_her sheriff?" Mr. Bowman hadn't even looked away from the window while speaking. Now he turned to look at Maddie with hate in his eyes. "_****_She's in on it too. I've found them together up in his room, and hers. She's in on it too." Maddie could feel her father standing up next to her. She looked at him and saw anger in his eyes as well._**

****

**_"Maddie would not lie about this. And you make it sound like they were f…," he looked at his daughter and changed what he was going to say, "Like they were having sex. They weren't doing that." Maddie shrunk in her seat. It was true that they weren't having sex but she knew Mr. Bowman didn't believe that. Mr. Bowman laughed sardonically._**

****

**_"Wake up Charlie. I've seen the way they are together." Maddie's father balled his hands into fists. Maddie stared at her feet and spoke up._**

****

**_"Bobby and I weren't like that." Mr. Bowman looked at Maddie and laughed again. Maddie's father took a step forward but the sheriff held him back._**

****

**_"Charlie, Lyle; stop it." He looked back at Maddie compassionately and placed his hand on her shoulder again. "Tell me what you found Maddie." Maddie sighed. Tears fell down her cheeks and she kept her gaze on her feet._**

****

**_"I- I found Mr. Bowman's truck. At first I thought that… that Bobby _****_had stolen it and _****_was running away. I found his cap." She realised that she must have dropped it while she was running, because she didn't have it anymore. "I looked around the truck and I… I smelt something so I went looking." She let out a ragged breath. More tears threatened to fall. The sheriff nodded. He was making notes but he looked up at her when he noticed she had stopped._**

****

**_"And what did you find Maddie?" Maddie opened her mouth to speak but Mr. Bowman cut her off._**

****

**_"She found my truck. The little bastard stole my truck." Maddie snapped her gaze up at Mr. Bowman. She stood up and walked over to him, balling her hand into a fist. She punched him squarely in the jaw. Bobby had taught her how to punch and she was now glad for it. Mr. Bowman grabbed his jaw and looked at her shocked; he definitely wasn't expecting the timid girl to do that. The sheriff and Maddie's father pulled her away from him._**

****

**_"Bobby wasn't a bastard. You're the bastard, don't you _****_ever talk about Bobby like that!" Maddie's father tried to soothe her and led her to sit back in her seat. Her mother pulled her into her arms and hugged her tightly, murmuring soothing words into her ear. The sheriff had some words with Mr. Bowman then turned back to Maddie._**

****

**_"What did you find Maddie?" Maddie took a deep breath and tried to keep her anger in check._**

****

**_"There was a body in the back of the truck. It… it had no head but it was wearing the clothes I last saw Bobby in… and… and his shoes, they were his shoes; they had his name on them. He always writes his name on his shoes." Maddie heard the gasps all around her. No one had known what state the body was in, all they knew was that _****_she had found it. The sheriff sighed._**

****

**_"Thank you Maddie. There's just one more thing. Um, I don't know how to ask you this." Maddie sighed and stood up. She knew what he wanted._**

****

**_"I'll take you to the body." Maddie lead the others to the body without saying anything else. When they got there she found Bobby's cap where she had fallen after finding the body. She'd picked it up and cradled it close to her heart, watching as the police did their jobs. They had insisted that they take the cap but she only held onto it tighter, like it was really Bobby she was holding onto. The sheriff had come over and told the police to let her keep the cap. _**

****

**_Maddie's parents had taken her home and put her in her bed. They'd fussed over her, trying to make her feel comfortable and also made sure they avoided the topic of Bobby. They'd left her alone and Maddie had stayed awake and cried, cradling Bobby's cap. Soon her sobs became silent but she was still crying. She started hearing whispered murmurs downstairs and crept over to the door. Peering out her door and over the rail of the stairs, she saw her parents talking._**

****

**_"I think she's asleep now. God, I thought Bobby had just run away. But for her to…, Charlie, how's she going to be able to deal?" She noticed that her father was pacing and that her mother couldn't sit still._**

****

**_"I know Karen, I know. She's going to have a hard time getting over it. I know she loved the boy and for her to find him like that… she said he had no head, who could have done that?" Maddie crept out of her room and lay down on the floor so she could look over the edge of the stairs and be able to hear everything better._**

****

**_"Well you know who they think did it, don't you? The sheriff thinks it was Lyle Bowman. How could he do that to his own son?" Maddie was shocked. She hadn't heard that Mr. Bowman was the suspect but it did make sense to her. She started getting angry. Pushing herself off the ground she started balling her hands into fists._**

****

**_"Bobby was _****_not Mr. Bowman's son. Mr. Bowman was Bobby's _****_foster _**_father and he should not have even been that." Maddie realised that her parents were looking at her shocked; they hadn't expected her to have been listening. She started making her way down the stairs. Her mother stood up and started walking towards her._****

****

**_"Madelyn, I think you should go back to bed." Maddie shook her head and continued walking towards her parents._**

****

**_"Do you know what Mr. Bowman did to Bobby? He used to beat him. He'd lock him in a shed in their backyard and beat him, or just leave him there. _****_That's how he could do that do him. Mr. Bowman _**_hated Bobby." Maddie's father gasped._****

****

**_"How do you know this Maddie?" Maddie sighed._**

****

**_"Bobby told me. Jimmy and I… we found him in the shed a few times, we helped to get him out. Bobby had… cuts and bruises over his back and stomach and anywhere you wouldn't usually see. He'd come to me and I'd dress them and let him cry in my lap." Maddie's father gasped again. Maddie's mother was standing behind her, worried._**

****

**_"Madelyn, I really don't think you should be up and talking about this. Go back to bed and try to sleep." Maddie turned to her mother. There was no way she could sleep. Every time she closed her eyes she saw the body and she didn't want that. She cocked her head to the side._**

****

**_"Why do you call me Madelyn but Dad calls me Maddie?" She saw fear in her mother's eyes. She was aware the sudden subject change sounded crazy. "Bobby used to call me Maddox. He _****_always called me Maddox. I asked him one time why he called me that and he didn't know. He saw the name somewhere and started calling me it." Maddie smiled slightly. Her mother stepped up to her worriedly. She put her hand on Maddie's head and her eyes widened more._**

****

**_"You're as cold as ice. Come here." She pulled her towards the couch and sat her down, wrapping a blanket around Maddie's shoulders._**

****

**_"Deep down I thought Bobby would come back… Jimmy too. I wanted to believe they had planned this, even if it meant they had left me behind." She was staring ahead blankly but now she turned to her mother with tears in her eyes. A part of her mind noticed that her mother also had tears in her eyes. "But they didn't plan this. Mr. Bowman killed Bobby and I'm never going to see him again." She stared ahead blankly again. Maddie's father knelt in front of her and took her hands._**

****

**_"Maddie, what Mr. Bowman did to Bobby when he as alive… would you be able to tell other people that?" Maddie's mother stared at her husband angrily._**

****

**_"Charlie, stop it. She's not well right now. She shouldn't be thinking about things like this." Maddie's father ignored her and kept talking to Maddie._**

****

**_"Would you be able to tell the sheriff?" Maddie nodded. She knew that if she told the sheriff that it would be helping Bobby. Maddie stared at her father and nodded again._**

****

**_"I will, for Bobby." She leant back into the couch. She closed her eyes and fell asleep._**

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Maddie woke up in her hotel room. She noticed that she had been crying because her pillow was wet. Her remembered past always made her cry, even if it was in her sleep. Everything she'd gone through after finding **_Bobby's_ body made her realise something. She'd reacted that way because it was ****_Bobby_. She reacted that way because she **_loved_** him. Now here he was, alive and well, and seemingly the same person in some ways and she was pushing him away. She didn't want to do that. Bobby had always been a life line for her, even when she thought he was dead, and now she was letting go of that life line. That didn't make sense because now she had something real to hold onto again. **

She sat up and looked in the mirror. She looked like hell. Her eyes were puffy and her skin was pale. She'd looked this way for three years after Bobby's death but she'd moved on and had become what she was today. She worked in placing children with parents who would love them because of what had happened with Bobby and Mr. Bowman. 

She'd told the police about what Mr. Bowman used to do to Bobby and that was one of the reasons he was in jail. She realised that she had felt as though her life's work was a joke because Mr. Bowman hadn't really killed Bobby, but she knew now that wasn't true. Mr. Bowman had been a horrible foster father **_before_** the murder; he locked Bobby in a shed and beat him; that was bad enough.

Glancing at her clock she saw that it was time to get up. She'd have to face Lyle today. What she didn't know was whether she'd let him know that she still cared for him or let him suffer. She'd suffered for years believing he was dead, but could she do that to **_him_? Especially after he'd told her that he had **_wanted_** to tell her. She got up and started getting dressed, deciding to make a decision when she saw him.**

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Lyle paced around his office. Maddie was seeing him today about Master Parker. He'd purposely dressed his best and had put on his best cologne. He knew it was juvenile but he wanted to look good around her. His palms were sweaty and he couldn't keep still. He smirked remembering the last time he'd been like this.

**_Bobby Bowman paced around the barn. He had to tell Maddie something and he had to do it now. If he didn't do it now he knew he never would. He had to tell her how he felt about her. His palms were sweaty and he couldn't keep still. Taking a deep breath, he walked out of the barn and started climbing up the ladder to Maddie's room. The window was open, as usual, and he climbed through._**

****

**_"Hey Bobby, you okay?" Bobby smirked hearing her question. It was always the first thing she asked when he came to her room. This showed how well she knew him. A lot of times he went to her room he was injured in some way so she was always concerned about him._**

****

**_"Yeah Maddox, I'm fine. I just needed to talk to you." Maddie nodded and sat up in bed, pushing the covers off her and gently lowering her feet to the ground. Bobby's breath caught in his throat. He'd seen her in her singlet pyjama top and shorts many times before, but the sight still put him off balance somewhat._**

****

**_"Alright then, shoot." She leant against the headboard of her bed and motioned for him to sit down next to her. Bobby smiled and sat next to her, also with his back against the headboard, but he was facing her slightly._**

****

**_"Okay, well, uh… I don't know where to begin." Maddie smirked._**

****

**_"How about starting with the beginning? The beginning's always good." Bobby smirked back. She was in a playful mood today, this was a good thing._**

****

**_"Yes, the beginning is always good." He smiled but stopped when he realised that he had to start with what he needed to tell her. If he didn't start now he knew he'd chicken out. "Well Maddox, it's about…" Bobby was cut off by the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. _**

****

**_"Madelyn, someone's on the phone for you." Maddie sighed and rolled her eyes._**

****

**_"Who is it?" They both heard her mother sigh._**

****

**_"Danny Medner." Maddie jumped off the bed and headed for the door. When she reached the door she remembered about Bobby._**

****

**_"Can you wait a minute?" Bobby sighed and stood up._**

****

**_"Don't worry about it. It wasn't really important anyway." Maddie nodded and walked out of the room. Bobby sighed and stood up. He walked over to the window and paused. He could hear Maddie laughing and sighed again. He had missed his chance. He climbed out the window and went home._**

Lyle sighed. That was the last night he'd seen Maddie. The next day he had found out about what his father had done to Jimmy and he had left. After he'd left her house he'd been upset, thinking that Maddie had been making a date with Danny Medner, but the next day he'd found out that the phone call was just about school. Danny had made notes for her for a subject they did together because she hadn't been able to go to class, he was just telling her about what they had done in class. He'd been planning on going back the next night and telling her how he felt but he hadn't been able to.

"Um, Mr. Lyle, Miss Clarke is here to see you." Lyle snapped out of his memory hearing his secretary's voice. He nodded and walked to sit on his desk. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself for when Maddie would come inside.

"Thank you, send her in." His secretary looked at him slightly stunned. She had never seen her boss act that way. She walked out of the office and back to Maddie, who was standing outside.

"Mr. Lyle says that you can go in." Maddie nodded and took a deep breath. She walked inside Lyle's office and stood by the door. Lyle was staring at her with a smile on his face and she couldn't seem to move. Behind her the door closed, banging into her slightly and causing her to stumble forward. She regained her posture and walked further into the room.

"Thank you for being able to see me, Mr. Lyle." Lyle frowned slightly and nodded.

"It's my pleasure really, Maddox." He smiled and pointed towards the chair opposite where he was sitting. "Please, sit down." Maddie nodded and sat in the seat furthest away from him. Lyle frowned more and stood up, walked behind his desk and sat in his chair. It was obvious she wanted some space from him so he was giving it to her.

"Thank you. Now I have a few questions to ask you concerning Master Parker." Lyle nodded and leant back in his seat. Maddie took out a thick notebook and a pen. She started flicking through pages until she found a blank page. "Do you think Mr. Raines would be a good guardian?" Lyle took a deep breath and prepared to tell Maddie what Raines told him to say.

"I think he would be an excellent father. He has plenty of money and…" Lyle kept talking but Maddie stopped writing. This was what most people she'd talked to said and it was now obvious that Mr. Raines had told them what to say. She sighed and interrupted him.

"I already know what **_Mr. Raines_** thinks but I want to know what **_you_** think." Lyle looked at Maddie, surprised. He wasn't expecting that. He didn't know what to say.

"Um, I **_am_** telling you what I think." Maddie sighed again and stood up. She walked around his desk and knelt in front of him, taking his hand in hers. Lyle watched her, wondering what she was doing.

"Bobby, I want the truth. I've heard that speech from everyone else who says Mr. Raines would be a good father. I don't want the thing Mr. Raines **_told_** you to say, I want what you **_really_ think. If there is anyone here whose word I would take seriously; it would be yours." Lyle smiled slightly.**

"And why would that be?" Maddie smiled and looked down. She looked back up at him with tears in her eyes.

"I know you… or at least I used to. I know what you went through with Mr. Bowman, that's why I do what I do. You, of all people, would know how important it is to be placed with a family who cares, a family you can be safe in. Now tell me the truth Bobby, would Mr. Raines be a loving father or another Mr. Bowman?" Lyle looked away from her. Hearing that she chose her profession because of what **_he_** went through meant a lot to him. He took a ragged breath and looked back at her.

"Get him away from Raines, Maddox. Get him as far away from Raines as you can. There is no way in hell that that man should be allowed anywhere **_near_** that child." He looked around and lowered his voice. "He's ten times worse than the man Mr. Bowman was." Maddie nodded. She smiled and ran her hand over his face and caressed his cheek.

"Thank you for the truth, Bobby." It was obvious that she meant that about Mr. Raines and also for him telling her the truth about Bobby Bowman. Lyle smiled. Maddie stood up and looked down at him. "What about Miss Parker? Do you think she'd make a good guardian for Master Parker?" Lyle stared at her confused.

"What? Would Miss Parker make a good guardian? Why ask that?" Maddie sighed and walked back to her seat.

"It's a question, Bobby. Would Miss Parker make a good guardian for Master Parker?" Lyle started thinking about it. Miss Parker would make the **_perfect_** guardian for Master Parker, but doing it would be suicide.

"Yes, Miss Parker would make a good guardian. Is she planning on adopting him?" Maddie nodded. Lyle was shocked. "You've got to be kidding me. I can't believe she's going up against Raines like that." Maddie nodded.

"I kind of supported it. I've seen the way Mr. Raines acts with Master Parker and it's obvious he's not fit to be a father. But I've seen Miss Parker with him. Bobby, she's the closest thing to a loving mother that that boy has." Lyle nodded. He smiled and stood up, walking over to her. He sat in the seat next to her and turned to face her. He could see the conviction in her eyes.

"I know. The only thing is that it's dangerous if she **_does_ adopt him." Maddie cocked her head to the side.**

"I don't understand. First you told me that I can't let people know that I knew you as Bobby Bowman and now you're telling me that Miss Parker adopting her brother would be dangerous. What is it that you people do here?" Lyle looked down.

"I can't tell you, Maddox. I want to keep you safe and if you knew what the Centre was… you wouldn't be safe." Maddie nodded slowly. She was getting scared. The Centre was really starting to frighten her.

"God Bobby, what have you gotten yourself into here?" Lyle smiled sadly. He reached his hand over and caressed her cheek. He was delighted when she closed her eyes and leant into his touch.

"You don't want to know. Maddox, if the Centre ever wants to do this again I don't want you coming back." Maddie opened her eyes, jerked away from him and looked at him hurt. "I don't want you dealing with them. Please Maddox; promise me you won't come back." Maddie sighed. Tears started welling in her eyes and she looked at the ground.

"But that would mean I wouldn't be able to see **_you_." Lyle looked away from her. The tears in Maddie's eyes started trailing down her cheeks. "I just found you again. This is so unfair." She stood and looked up. She began to yell. "Why can't I have you in my life?" Lyle stood up and wrapped his arms around her, letting her sob into his chest. Maddie's arms came up around him and she clutched at his shirt.**

"Shh Maddox, it's alright. I won't leave you again." Maddie continued crying and Lyle ran a soothing hand up and down her back. He kissed the top of her head and sighed. "Now that you've found me again, you'll never be completely rid of me." Maddie composed herself slightly and looked into his eyes.

"I couldn't stand it if I lost you again." Lyle smiled and leant his head closer to hers.

"I'll have to make sure you don't lose me then." He smiled and put his lips to hers. Maddie reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and began kissing him with all the love, pent up emotion and passion she'd carried around for years. Lyle moaned and wrapped his arms around her waist, crushing her body into his. He lifted her up, pushed everything off his desk and laid her down. Maddie moaned and wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him down to rest on top of her.

"Mr. Lyle, Mr. Raines is here to see you. Oh sorry, uh…" Lyle pulled away and looked up. His secretary and Raines were standing in his doorway. His secretary had a frightened look on her face while Raines looked slightly amused. Lyle cursed and got off Maddie.

"Um, could you hold on a second?" Raines nodded and walked out of the room. Lyle's secretary followed him, blushing about what she'd seen, and closed the door behind her. Lyle turned back to Maddie and smiled apologetically. Seeing Maddie, he realised just how bad the situation was. Her skirt had ridden up and somehow some of her, and his, buttons had gotten undone, although he couldn't recall either of the undoing them.

"I think I should go now." Maddie got off the desk and fixed up her skirt and blouse. She ran her fingers through her hair to try and do something with it. Lyle nodded and began fixing himself up. Maddie walked towards the door and when she got to where Lyle was standing, he took hold of her arm.

"I'm sorry about that. I guess I should have locked the door." Maddie smiled and nodded.

"I wasn't expecting that to happen and I don't think you were either." Lyle laughed and nodded. He definitely wasn't expecting anything like that to happen. He reached out and caressed her cheek.

"No, I wasn't. But I have to admit that I'm glad it did." Maddie smiled. She leant closer to him and gave him a small lingering kiss on the lips.

"I never finished my interview. I guess I'll have to do it another time, won't I Bobby?" She smiled and walked out of his office. Lyle smiled and started fixing up his desk. 

As Maddie walked out of the office she saw Mr. Raines standing to one side watching her and Lyle's secretary looking at anything but her. She ran her fingers through her hair again and continued walking. As she got closer to Raines, she stood as straight and professional as she could.

"Miss Clarke." Raines nodded a greeting at her. He was smirking smugly. Maddie nodded regally and continued walking.

"Mr. Raines." Raines watched as she walked to the elevator. He grinned and walked into Lyle's office. Lyle was standing behind his desk trying to make some semblance of the mess he'd made when he'd cleared it off.

"I'm very pleased with you, Lyle." Lyle looked up at Raines confused. Why would Raines be pleased with him? If anything, he thought that Raines would be angry at him for how he caught Lyle with Maddie.

"Excuse me?" Raines laughed and walked further into the room.

"I'm pleased that you are getting some influence over Miss Clarke." Lyle looked at him confused, still not understanding what he meant. "It is obvious that this woman doesn't think I should get custody of Master Parker and what **_she_** thinks is **_everything_** in this case." Lyle walked around his desk to stand in front of Raines.

"I don't understand what you're getting at." Raines laughed again.

"I'm proud that you are able to see what could happen and come up with something to remedy that. Sleeping with the woman and therefore gaining influence over her. You can sway her decision towards me. I'm very proud of you." Lyle couldn't believe that that was what Raines thought he was doing.

"Well sir…" Raines cut him off and walked over to one of the walls, looking at a painting.

"Actually," he turned back to Lyle grinning, "I wouldn't think you'd touch the bitch with a ten foot poll." Lyle snapped. He would not tolerate anyone talking about Maddie that way. He charged Raines and held him to the wall while he pressed his arm into Raines throat. Raines looked at him wide eyed.

"Don't you **_ever_** talk about her like that, do you understand me?" Raines started gasping for air. Lyle was obstructing the tube that connected his oxygen tank to him.

"Get… off… me." Lyle realised what he was doing and let go of Raines immediately. Straight away he knew he was in trouble. Raines took a few moments to regain his breath before he turned to Lyle angrily.

"I'm sorry Mr. Raines. I…" Raines raised his hand to silence him. He walked threateningly over to Lyle.

"Is this more than just sex, Lyle?" Lyle didn't say anything. "Do you **_like_** this woman? Do you **_care_** for this woman? Do you have **_feelings_ for this woman, Lyle?" Lyle clenched his jaw.**

"No, Mr. Raines, I don't have feelings for this woman." Raines looked at him for a moment. Lyle was still clenching his jaw. He hated that he had to lie about how he felt about Maddie, but he couldn't let Raines know.

"I don't believe you, Lyle. I think you **_do_ have feelings for this woman and now you're lying about it to me." Lyle looked down. Raines stepped forward and yanked Lyle's head up to look at him forcefully. "What did I teach you about feelings, Lyle?" Lyle tried to compose himself. His temper was boiling and if he wasn't careful he'd have another outburst.**

"Feelings make you weak." Raines nodded. He stepped even closer to him and whispered menacingly into his ear.

"You are weak, Bobby. Your feelings have **_always_ made you weak. Your feelings for this **_woman_** are making you weak, Bobby." Lyle clenched his jaw again. Unlike when Maddie called him Bobby, Raines calling him Bobby made him boil. Raines called Lyle Bobby when he wanted to intimidate him. For a moment, Lyle had thought that Raines realised who Maddie was, but when he looked into his eyes he saw he didn't.**

"Yes sir, feelings make you weak. Emotions make you weak." Raines nodded. He stepped back and looked at Lyle.

"I'm glad you learnt your lesson." Lyle nodded. Raines stepped forward again and punched Lyle in the stomach. Lyle buckled over in pain, clutching his stomach. Raines stepped back and looked at him for a moment. He walked over to the door and called in some of his sweepers. When Lyle looked up he saw that Raines sweepers were standing all around him and knew he was in trouble.

"What do you want us to do, sir?" Lyle looked towards where Willie the sweeper was standing next to Raines. Raines smiled evilly.

"I want you to make sure he really **_did_ learn his lesson." Willie smiled evilly and begun directing the other sweepers, telling them what to do. They lifted him up and dragged him into a room and began beating him. All throughout the beating Lyle could only think of one thing; Maddie. Thinking about Maddie had always gotten him through his beatings from Mr. Bowman and now was no different.**

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Maddie was sitting in her hotel room going through some files on Master Parker. Her thoughts kept drifting to what had happened with Bobby and she couldn't stop smiling. She wondered what would have happened if they weren't interrupted. Actually, she knew **_exactly_ what would have happened and that just made her smile more. She ran her fingers through her hair and leant back in her seat. She was running her pen along her fingers when there was a knock on her door. She got up and walked over to the door, pausing before opening it, not knowing who was outside.**

"Who is it?" She leant against the door and waited for an answer.

"It's me Maddox, let me in." Maddie smiled and opened the door. When she saw Lyle, she gasped. He had bruises all over his face and his lip was split open. A trickle of blood was coming from both his lip and his nose. Lyle was cradling his thumbless arm close to his side making it obvious that either his arm or ribs were sore, possibly both.

"Oh God, come here Bobby." She pulled him inside and closed the door behind him. She took his face in her hands and looked at his injuries. "What happened?" She ran her thumb over his lips to wipe some of the blood away. 

"Raines had me beat." Maddie gasped and took his hand, leading him towards the bedroom. Once they got to the bedroom she pushed him towards the bed while she turned to the bathroom.

"I saw a first aid kit in here. I'm sure you remember the routine." Lyle smiled slightly and started undoing the buttons on his shirt. He flashed back to one of the moments this had happened as a teenager.

**_"Maddox…" At the sound of Bobby's voice, Maddie sat up worriedly._**

****

**_"Hey Bobby, you okay?" She tried to keep her voice as steady and carefree as possible, but it wasn't working. Hearing Bobby's croaky voice had her worried._**

****

**_"No, I'm not." Maddie dashed out of bed immediately and turned on her bedside lamp. She gasped and ran over to him, caressing his cheek. His eye was red and puffy and there was blood seeping through his shirt. She backed away from him and reached under her bed for her first aid kit. _**

****

**_"Strip and get on the bed." Bobby slowly and painfully took his shirt and pants off. He lay down on her bed still wearing his boxers. He had cuts and bruises all over his stomach and legs. Maddie gasped again and started tending to his wounds._**

****

**_"They're really not as bad as they look." Maddie sighed and continued dressing his wounds, his attempted reassurance wasn't working._**

"Strip and get on the bed, yes I remember." Lyle lay down on the bed and sighed. The bed was so cosy and soft; it did wonders for his sore and battered body. And more than that, the bed smelt of **_her_.**

"I'll tell you one thing; you're going to be in pain tomorrow." Lyle laughed slightly at her poor joke but grimaced when it caused more pain. Maddie sighed and sat next to him on the bed.

"I'm in pain right **_now_**." Maddie nodded. She had a bowl of water on the bedside table and put a cloth into it. She brought it out and held it in front of him.

"I'll start with your face. This may sting." Lyle nodded and closed his eyes as the cloth came closer to his face. It was obvious it not only had water on it but also antiseptic. He gasped as she cleaned the wounds on his face. While she was cleaning his face up, she continually apologised. 

Once she was done with his face she looked down at his chest. Large bruises, only a few hours old, were all over his chest and stomach. There was nothing she could do for them. She looked over the rest of his body, looking for any other cuts or scrapes she could clean up. Lyle watched her and realised what she was looking for. He turned over onto his back, groaning when it meant that he had to put pressure on the bruises on his front. There were scrapes on his back from when he'd been dragged. Maddie cleaned the scrapes and covered them then got him to turn over again.

"Does anything else hurt?" Lyle nodded. He was still cradling his arm close to his body but now he lifted it to her.

"My arm, I think it may be broken." Maddie nodded and took a look at his arm. She couldn't tell whether it had been broken or not, she wasn't a doctor, she was only a woman who'd had to tend to her friends cuts and bruises as a child. His arm was swollen and whenever she touched it, even gently, he gasped in pain.

"I can't to anything to really help that, or to even see if it **_is_** broken, but I'll wrap it for you." Lyle nodded. She was handling his arm gently and whenever he groaned or gasped in pain, Lyle could see the pain reflected in her eyes. Once she had finished wrapping his arm, she started packing up the rest of the first aid things she'd taken out. As she was about to go and put the first aid kit back, Lyle grabbed hold of her hand with his good arm.

"Thank you, Maddox. I know you didn't have to do this." Maddie smiled and walked to put the first aid kit back. When she came back into the room she saw that Lyle was sitting up again and attempting to get his clothing back together. Maddie walked over to the bed quickly and stopped him from moving.

"Where do you think you're going?" Lyle opened his mouth to answer, but she cut him off. "You're in no condition to go **_anywhere_. Lie back down and get some rest." Again, Lyle opened his mouth to dispute, but Maddie cut him off by shaking her head. "I will not take no for an answer. Lie back down!" It was obvious that Maddie wouldn't let him go anywhere. Lyle sighed and lay back down. Maddie smiled and sat next to him with her feet on the bed in front of her. Lyle looked up at her and smiled.**

"You know I really **_should_** be going." Maddie looked at him sternly. Lyle laughed slightly. "I said I should, but I won't." Maddie smiled at him. Lyle reached up and took her hand, kissing her knuckles sweetly. "Really Maddox, thank you, you've always looked after me." Maddie smiled again and swept her hand over his face.

"How could I not? I guess I'm just a sucker for someone who needs me." She laughed and ran her hand through his hair. Lyle closed his eyes and revelled in her touch. After Raines **_lesson_** he had only wanted to go home but somehow he'd ended up outside her hotel room. 

That used to happen all the time when he was Bobby Bowman. Usually when he got out of the shed, all he'd want to do was go up to his room and lay down in his bed, but he'd always somehow find himself outside Maddie's room. On the few occasions that he **_had_** actually gone up to his own room, he was uncomfortable and couldn't sleep, but when he was in Maddie's room, he'd always be comfortable and had the best nights sleep ever.

Even after Bobby Bowman had **_died_ it had always be the same. If he had injuries, no matter who tended to them or if he was in another woman's arms, he couldn't sleep and was as uncomfortable as hell. He had always thought it had something to do with her bed, maybe her bed had been what had made him comfortable, but now he realised that it wasn't her bed, it was ****_her_.**

"And I **_do_** need you, Maddox. I always have." Maddie smiled and ran her hand over his face again. 

"I just wish I could do more to help you." Lyle looked up at her, stunned. What more could she do to help him?

"You're doing more than enough." Maddie shook her head and shuffled down to lay next to him. Propping herself up on her side she ran her hand down the bruise on his face, over his split lip and down the bruises on his chest. Lyle shivered under her touch.

"I just wish I could do **_more_**." She ran her hand back up over the trail she'd just made then back down. Lyle suppressed a moan and looked at her.

"No, I wish **_I_** could do more." He ran his hand up her arm. Maddie sighed and looked at the bruises on his chest.

"But look at you. I couldn't do anything for those." Lyle also looked down at his chest. He shrugged and looked back up at her. Before he could say anything else she had bent down and placed a kiss on the first bruise. Lyle moaned and looked at her shocked.

"W-what are you doing?" Maddie moved down and kissed the second bruise.

"I'm kissing them better. Is it working?" She kissed the next one. Lyle moaned again.

"Actually it is. I can't even feel them anymore." Maddie smiled and kissed the next one. Lyle practically growled and turned them over so he was on top of her. Maddie squealed and looked up at him.

"Bobby, what are you doing?" Her question fell on deaf ears. Lyle was nuzzling her neck and undoing the buttons on her blouse, he was used to only using one hand for this task. "Bobby…" She lost her own thoughts when he made a trail of kisses up her neck, over her jaw and finally to her lips.

"I should have tried this ago. This is the best type of pain relief ever." Maddie laughed and ran her hands gently over his back. Lyle lifted her up slightly and slipped her blouse off her shoulders. He placed kisses to both of her shoulders before lowering her back to the bed.

"Bobby, are you sure we should be doing this? I mean you're injured and…" Lyle put his finger to her lips.

"Shh, Maddox, I've waited years to do this and I'm not going to let a few cuts and bruises to stand in my way." He kissed her with more passion than the kiss in his office. Maddie moaned and moved to nibble on his ear.

As their passion grew and their hearts, bodies and souls became one, they both realised that they were fulfilling something they had both given up on ever achieving. Later, they lay curled up to each other. Maddie traced a scar on Lyle's stomach. She remembered that scar from when they were teenagers. Jimmy had dared him to climb a tree and he had fallen from pretty far up. They had all been relieved that that was the worst injury he had received when it could have been much, much worse. Lyle ran his hand over her cheek and leant forward to give her a gentle kiss.

"You have no idea how long I've fantasised about doing that." Maddie laughed and started tracing the outline of one of the bruises.

"Oh yes I do. I think I may have been fantasising about you for as long as you have about me." Lyle grinned and started running his finger up and down her arm in a light caress. Out of nowhere Maddie started laughing. Lyle looked at her confused, he was sure that the caress wasn't soft enough to tickle her to that extent.

"What's so funny?" Maddie stopped laughing and turned to face him completely with a grin on her face.

"I was just thinking about my first time." Lyle frowned wondering why she was thinking about her first time when she was with him. He was confused as to why she was laughing about her first time and even though he hated the man who had been her first, whoever he was, he couldn't help but feel sorry for him if she was laughing about her first time.

"And why is that so funny?" Maddie grinned wider and ran her fingers through his hair.

"It's funny because I called out **_your_ name." Lyle looked at her shocked, surprised that she had called out his name. He started laughing.**

"Was it even **_close _**to the guy's name?" Maddie shook her head, laughing again.

"His name was James." Lyle laughed and started nuzzling her neck.

"Not as bad as me. My first **_few_ times I called out Maddox. I swear the girl thought I was gay or something." He started laughing but stopped when he realised she wasn't laughing along with him. He looked at her and saw that she was just staring at him. He suddenly started feeling as though something was wrong. "What?" A grin spread out over her face and she cuddled up closer to him.**

"**_You_** called out **_my_** name?" Lyle smiled and nodded, sweeping his hand along her back.

"Of course I called out your name, Maddox. I've been in love with you since I was four years old." Maddie stopped smiling. She hadn't known that. They had been four years old when Lyle had first moved in with the Bowman's. That meant that he had loved her since he first met her. She leaned forward and started kissing him.

"That's the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me." Lyle grinned and held her close.

"It's the truth." Maddie smiled and laid her head on his chest in a spot where she wouldn't touch any bruises. She yawned and looked sleepily into his eyes.

"If I go to sleep, will I wake up from a dream?" Lyle smiled and kissed the top of her head.

"No, I'll still be here and it will still be real." Maddie smiled and nodded sleepily.

"Then I'm going to sleep." Lyle laughed and made himself more comfortable.

"Okay, I'll be right here."

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Maddie woke up and instantly reached to her side to see if Lyle was still there. She didn't want to open her eyes and have the disappointment that it was all a dream. There had been too many times that she'd dreamt that Bobby was alive, or Jimmy for that matter, only to wake up to discover that it had all been a dream.

"It's okay, I'm still here." Maddie smiled and opened her eyes. She smiled wider when she saw that he **_was_ still there meaning it all **_hadn't_** been a dream.**

"I was just checking." Lyle grinned and pulled her into his arms. Even **_he_** had been worried that it had all been a dream when he'd woken up, but when he'd realised that she was still in his arms, he couldn't be happier. 

"I'm not a dream, I'm real. I'm flesh and bone and… Bobby." Maddie smiled and ran her hand over his face.

"You're Bobby." She smiled and leant forward to kiss him. "And I'm Maddox." Both smiled. They were getting back to what they had both been. Lyle hadn't been Bobby for years and Maddie hadn't been Maddox, the two only existed now with each other. Lyle leant forward and gave her a sweet kiss, he'd never felt more intimate with a person than he did with Maddie. Spotting the clock on the bedside table, Lyle groaned.

"I've got to get up." Maddie frowned and sat up. She reached on the floor and picked up the closest thing, Lyle's shirt, and slipped it over her head. She also found her underwear, which were hanging from the headboard of the bed, and pulled them on. She walked into the bathroom leaving Lyle to sit up and get the rest of his clothes together. When she came back, Lyle was wearing his pants and sitting on the end of the bed. He was staring into space. Maddie sighed and came to sit next to him, wrapping her arms around his chest.

"What's wrong?" Lyle turned to face her. He looked at her confused. Maddie sighed and leant her head on his shoulder. "You always got that look when something was bothering you. So spill, what's wrong?" Lyle couldn't help but smile. Even after all those years, she could still read him like a book.

"It's nothing, really." Maddie frowned. She knew something was wrong. 

Lyle looked away from her. He couldn't tell her what was really wrong. Raines had told him that feelings made you weak, it was why he had been beaten, but he couldn't stop what he felt for Maddie. He was worried about what would happen if Raines found out. What would happen to him? And more importantly, what would Raines do to **_Maddie_**? He didn't even want to think about it, but he couldn't stop his mind from going there.

After Raines had had him beaten, he had tried to convince himself not to think about Maddie, not to yearn to be in her arms like the old days, but he had still ended up outside her door, battered and bruised and wanting help. Even after Raines had pretty much threatened his life, he couldn't stop himself from caring about Maddie. He couldn't help himself.

"I should be going; I've got to get this checked out before I go to work." Lyle lifted his injured arm up. He couldn't believe that the bandage Maddie had wrapped it in hadn't come off the night before during the strenuous activities. Maddie nodded and let go of him.

"I'll probably be in to see you at the Centre today; I never got to finish my interview." She smiled seductively at him. Lyle smiled and stood up. He stared at her expectantly; he couldn't leave without his shirt. "What?" Lyle grinned and knelt on the bed.

"I'm waiting to get my shirt back. You're wearing it and I can't leave without it." Maddie smiled and started playing with the bottom of the shirt.

"What, you want this back?" Lyle nodded and moved closer to her.

"Yes, I want it back." Maddie sighed dramatically and spread out on the bed.

"Well then, I guess you're just going to have to come and get it." Lyle grinned and started undoing the buttons on the shirt. Maddie wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. Lyle hungrily kissed her while still doing the buttons. When all of the buttons were undone, he pulled away and started taking the shirt off her.

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to think of anything but you whenever I wear this shirt, now." Maddie giggled and let the shirt fall off her shoulders. Lyle stared at her body, mesmerised. "I'll **_definitely_ always think of you." Maddie tossed him the shirt then walked over to get some clothes. She changed quickly and walked back over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck.**

"You had better think of me." She rubbed her nose against his then kissed him. Lyle moaned and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her to him completely. They pulled apart and looked into each other's eyes. 

Lyle knew he had to be going. If he was going to be getting his arm checked out before work he had better leave before he couldn't pull himself away from her. He gave her a quick kiss then let go of her.

"I've got to go." Maddie nodded and started walking with him to the door.

"I'll walk you down." Lyle couldn't help but smile. She didn't want to be apart from **_him_** as much as he didn't want to be apart from **_her_**. They walked out of the room, Maddie making sure she had her key, and to the elevator. While waiting for the elevator to come, Maddie pulled Lyle to her again for another kiss. When the elevator came they pulled apart, grinning. No one was in the elevator so they resumed kissing. Two floors down, an older couple got on the elevator. Lyle tried to pull away from Maddie again but she wouldn't let him.

"Aren't they cute?" Maddie couldn't help but laugh at the older woman's statement. She leant against Lyle's chest; her arms still wrapped around his neck, and looked at the older couple.

"Thank you." Lyle hid his face from the couple on the other side of Maddie's head. He couldn't help but feel embarrassed by the attention. He leant to whisper in her ear.

"Maddox, you're embarrassing me." Maddie laughed and kissed him. She turned to the older couple and smiled.

"Isn't he so cute? He says I'm embarrassing him." The older couple snickered but didn't answer her. Lyle hid from the older couple again.

"You are evil." Maddie laughed and kissed his neck. The elevator stopped at the lobby and both the older couple and Maddie and Lyle got off. Maddie gave Lyle one more kiss and sent him on his way. 

Once he was gone, she sighed. She started walking back to the elevator, taking her time. There were things she had to do back up at her room but she didn't want to go. If she was back in her room she'd only start thinking about what had happened there between her and Bobby.

"Maddie, there you are, I've had the people down here trying to call your room. I was getting worried, babe." Maddie turned around and saw a familiar face coming closer to her. 

"Mac, you're here." The man walked over to her and smiled. He was carrying a laptop bag over one shoulder and another similar bag on the other. He was wearing a green knit beanie which had black wavy hair coming from underneath, baggy clothes and sunglasses.

"I say lets go up to your room." Maddie froze. She couldn't let him up to **_that_** room.

"Actually, why don't we go to yours? I mean you've got to get settled in and everything." Mac nodded and followed as she turned around and started heading to the elevator again.

"Oh baby, do you want some fries with that shake." Maddie laughed and shot Mac a playful glare over her shoulder.

"Shut up Mac, I'm **_not_** going to play this time." Mac frowned and walked closer to her.

"I'm hurt. You don't want me anymore." Maddie laughed. "I'm making it my mission to make you love me again." Maddie sighed and leant against the wall while waiting for the elevator to come.

"I think you've been spending **_way_ too much time in the lab, I **_never_** loved you." Mac put his hand over his heart dramatically.**

"You're cutting me deep, woman." The elevator came and they both got in. Mac laughed and leant against the side of the elevator wall. "Okay, okay, enough mucking around, let's get down to business. How many have I got to test?" Maddie sighed.

"Three. You have to test Thomas and the two trying to adopt him; Mr. Raines and Miss Parker." Mac nodded.

"I thought Mr. Raines was the only one trying to adopt the kid." Maddie shook her head.

"Not anymore." The elevator came to the floor Mac's room was on. "Do you want to go in today for the DNA tests or do you have to get set up first." Mac tapped the bag on his right shoulder.

"I have to get set up first. I'll go in tomorrow, if that's okay." Maddie nodded. She stopped walking and turned to face him.

"I've got some things to do up in my room, call my mobile when you're done." Mac nodded and started walking backwards to his room, watching Maddie walk away.

"I'll be counting to seconds until I can see you again." Maddie nodded and waved her hand over her head. She got back in the elevator, watching through the closing doors as Mac blew kisses at her. She laughed again then sobered up. Mac always flirted outrageously with her; the only problem now was that Bobby was there. She had no idea how Lyle would react to Mac's playful flirtations.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Broots burst into Sydney's office, clutching a DSA. He ran over to the shelf Sydney kept his DSA player on and took it off, carrying it over to Sydney's desk and placing it in front of him. Without a word, he put the DSA in and started up the player. Before playing it, he turned to Sydney and started to explain what he was doing.

"Syd, you're not going to believe this. Did you see Maddie yesterday?" Sydney shook his head.

"The last time I saw Maddie was two days ago, why?" Broots looked around then continued.

"Yesterday was the day she interviewed Lyle." Sydney nodded. Broots continued. "I was talking to Fry, the guy who works in the DSA room that has that really bad skin condition, and he told me about the DSA of Maddie's meeting with Lyle. Syd, you're not going to believe what happened." He turned to the DSA player and was about to start it when Miss Parker walked in.

"You two are huddled around a DSA player. What is it and does it concern my mother?" Broots shook his head.

"It has nothing to do with your mother and everything to do with Maddie and Lyle." Miss Parker arched an eyebrow. "I was just about to show Syd." Miss Parker nodded and walked around the table so she could also see the screen. Sydney and Broots watched her.

"You want to see it as well?" Miss Parker nodded.

"I want to know what my psycho twin did and how Maddie reacted." Sydney nodded. He'd told Lyle to tell Maddie the truth, but he had no idea if he actually had. He wanted to see the DSA to see what happened. Hopefully he'd be able to see if Lyle did indeed take his advice Broots shrugged.

"Okay, but there's just one thing I have to tell you before I start it." Both Sydney and Miss Parker nodded. "The cameras in Lyle's office have no microphones so it doesn't have any sound. It was his one condition that they could be in there. So, unless one of you can read lips, we won't know what they're saying." Miss Parker looked at him confused.

"If we can't hear what they're saying then why are we watching it?" Broots pointed to the screen.

"You'll see." He started the DSA and leant back so he could watch as well.

Lyle was standing in the middle of his office staring into space when his secretary walked inside. She said something to him and he nodded then walked to sit on the end of his desk. He took a deep breath and spoke to his secretary. They could see the stunned look on the secretary's face as she walked out of the room. Maddie walked into the room. They could tell she was uncomfortable about being there. Lyle smiled at her and it was obvious that this put her off even more. As the door banged into Maddie and she stumbled then regained her posture, Miss Parker turned to Sydney.

"It's obvious she's uncomfortable. I feel sorry for her; she really cared for Lyle when he was Bobby." Sydney nodded and continued to watch.

Maddie spoke and they watched as Lyle frowned and nodded. They could tell he was offering her a seat and watched as she took the seat furthest from where he was sitting. They watched as Lyle frowned and stood up, walking to sit behind his desk in his seat.

"Lyle seems upset that she's uncomfortable being close to him. I wonder if maybe he cares more than he lets on." Sydney cast Miss Parker and Broots a sideways glance to see how they reacted to his statement. He already knew that Lyle cared for Maddie. Miss Parker nodded but didn't respond. Broots raised his eyebrows, he'd already seen the DSA and he knew what happened, but he didn't say anything.

They watched as Maddie started getting down to business, taking out her notebook and obviously asking questions about Master Parker being placed with Raines. As Lyle started answering, Miss Parker sighed and put her hand over the button to fast forward. Broots jumped into action and pulled her hand back.

"Trust me; you **_don't_** want to do that." Miss Parker gave him a perplexed stare then turned back to the DSA player.

Maddie stood up and walked around the desk and knelt in front of Lyle, taking his hand in hers. Miss Parker and Sydney both held similar looks to the confused one Lyle had. As Maddie was talking, Miss Parker turned to Sydney.

"What is she doing? Do you think it has something to do with Bobby?" Sydney didn't know what to say. He continued watching as Maddie and Lyle spoke. "Is she crying?" They all moved closer to the screen and saw that she **_did_ have tears in her eyes. Broots hadn't even noticed that the first time he had seen the DSA.**

Lyle looked away from Maddie, taking a ragged breath. When he turned back to her it was obvious Maddie had said something to make him have a strong emotional response. He seemed to be scared or nervous or something. They all watched in wonder as Maddie ran her hand over Lyle's face, caressing his cheek.

"Look at what she's doing. I think she may have lost her mind. Is it possible she's talking to him like he is Bobby…? I mean… you know what I mean." Both Sydney and Miss Parker nodded. They understood what Broots was trying to say.

"I know what you mean. Sydney, I don't know if it's good for her to be around him if she's acting like this." Sydney nodded. He didn't need Miss Parker to tell him what would or wouldn't be good for someone's emotional state of mind.

"If she's confusing Bobby with Lyle then she **_definitely_ shouldn't be around him." He silently added on that that is if he hadn't told her the truth. If Lyle hadn't told her and she was still acting this way towards Lyle then it wouldn't be good for her mental health to be around him. **

When they all turned back to the screen they saw that Lyle was sitting next to her now and Maddie was looking at him with a confused look in her face. Lyle was saying something to her and her confused look turned to a frightened one.

"Oh God, Lyle seems to have let the real him out." Broots put his hand on Miss Parker's shoulder, making her turn to face him.

"Don't be so sure." Miss Parker stared at him confused but he just pointed back at the screen as an answer. Miss Parker shrugged and turned back to the screen.

Lyle was caressing Maddie's cheek and she had her eyes closed, leaning into it. Miss Parker stared at the screen, agape. Lyle was talking then Maddie jerked away from him, looking hurt. Lyle said something else and Maddie looked down with tears in her eyes.

"What's going on?" Broots put his finger to the pointed to the screen again.

The tears in Maddie's eyes started trailing down her cheeks and Lyle turned away. She stood up and it was obvious she was suddenly angry. She began yelling, although they couldn't hear what she said. Lyle stood up and wrapped his arms around her. Maddie held onto him tightly, clutching at his shirt. Lyle was trying to soothe her, both with words and by running his hands up and down her back. Miss Parker took a sharp intake of breath when she saw him kiss the top of her head.

"Even Lyle wouldn't take advantage of her in her vulnerable state… would he?" She turned to Broots and Sydney to see what they thought. Both Broots and Sydney opened their mouths in shock seeing what Lyle did next.

"I don't know about that, Miss Parker." Sydney pointed to the screen.

On the DSA, Maddie and Lyle were kissing. Maddie had her arms wrapped around his neck and Lyle's were around her waist, crushing his body into hers. All three people watching were shocked when he lifted her up, pushed everything off his desk and laid her down. Maddie wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him even closer to her. They noticed that both were scrambling, almost absentmindedly, to undo the buttons on each others shirts.

"Maybe we should stop it here." Sydney's hand hovered over the stop button but Broots stopped him.

"Look, Raines and Lyle's secretary just came into the office." Miss Parker pointed to the side of the screen where Lyle's secretary was standing looking embarrassed and where Raines was standing looking amused.

Lyle got off Maddie, showing that both had succeeded in undoing some of each other's buttons and Maddie's skirt had ridden up. Lyle spoke to Raines and his secretary, making them leave the room. He turned back to Maddie and smiled apologetically, seeming to only now realise what state they were both in. Maddie got up, and fixed herself up, and Lyle did the same. She started walking for the door but Lyle stopped her. They spoke then Lyle caressed her cheek. Maddie leant forward and gave him a lingering kiss. She smiled and walked out of the office.

Broots reached forward and started fast forwarding it through Lyle fixing his desk, Raines coming back in the office and them talking for a moment. They could see that Raines was amused and Lyle was confused through their whole conversation. Broots put the DSA on pause when Raines walked away from Lyle and turned to Sydney and Miss Parker.

"You **_have_** to see what happens here." Both nodded and Broots played the DSA again.

Raines said something and it was obvious that Lyle snapped. He charged Raines and held him to the wall while he pressed his arm into Raines throat. Raines looked at him wide eyed. Lyle seemed to be threatening Raines and Raines was gasping for air. Lyle let go of Raines and it was obvious he knew he was in trouble. Raines regained his breath then turned to Lyle looking livid. Lyle seemed to be apologising to Raines but him silenced him by raising his hand. 

Raines seemed to be threatening Lyle. They watched as he whispered in Lyle's ear. Lyle seemed to be conforming to whatever Raines was saying to him. There were times when he looked like he could ram Raines into a wall again but kept himself under control. Raines stepped away from Lyle when he seemed to be happy with whatever Lyle's answers were, but he stepped forward again to punch him in the gut. They watched in horror as Raines called his sweepers in and they started beating Lyle.

Broots reached forward and turned it off. All three were stunned, not only with what happened between Lyle and Maddie but also what happened later between Lyle and Raines.

"What do you think about that?" Broots was looking around; trying to make sure no one was around. He wasn't supposed to have the DSA but he had just **_had_** to show Sydney.

"I don't know, Broots. Maybe we could ask Lyle when he comes in today." Miss Parker couldn't help but laugh at Sydney's suggestion. Sydney frowned. "Or we could ask Maddie next time we see her." Miss Parker nodded.

"I think that asking Maddie would be a better idea." All three nodded. Broots looked around.

"When is she coming in today?"

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Maddie was getting her things together when there was a knock on the door. She walked over to it and answered it. Mac was standing in front of her with a grin on his face and the two bags he had had over his shoulders earlier in his arms.

"What are you doing here?" Mac pushed his way into her room and looked around.

"You got the good room again. My room doesn't have anywhere for my equipment so I'll have to set it up in here." Maddie sighed. She looked around the room and noted that it was rather large so his equipment would fit.

"Okay, okay, set it up. I'm going to go into the Centre." She started walking for the door but Mac grabbed her arm to stop her. He reached into his bag and pulled out a set of files.

"Not so fast. Ashley told me to give you these, she wants you to go over them and she wants you to call her as soon as possible." He sighed and walked over to a table to start setting his equipment up. Maddie groaned and started flipping through the many files Mac had given her.

"I swear, they should just give **_me_ Ashley's job, I do enough of her work." Mac laughed but didn't comment. Maddie groaned again and walked over to the bed, flopping down and starting to go through the files.**

"Remember, you've got to call Ashley." Maddie looked up at Mac. He was setting up his equipment and hadn't even looked up at her. She reached over to her side and picked up the hotel room phone. She dialled the phone while absentmindedly flipping through the files. 

"Hello, Ashley Emerson speaking." Maddie sighed and found the first file.

"It's me; I got the files you sent up." Ashley let out a relieved sigh.

"I was stressing. I **_really_** needed your help. Please, go through them and tell me what to do." Maddie sighed and quickly read through the first file. Ashley was Maddie's superior but Maddie did most of her work. Ashley was a nice enough person but whenever she didn't know what to do she'd get really stressed out and start worrying over nothing. When that happened, she'd always ask for Maddie's help. The only problem was that that happened a lot and Maddie ended up doing **_most_** of Ashley's work.

"Calm down Ashley, there are just a few problems with this report…" She started going through the problems of the report, occasionally glancing at Mac and pulling faces. About an hour later, her mobile rang. Mac got up and pointed to the phone, asking if he should answer it. Maddie nodded and turned her back on him while continuing to talk to Ashley. Mac answered the mobile.

"Hello?" Lyle was sitting at his desk. He pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it puzzled. He definitely wasn't expecting to hear a male voice.

"I'm sorry; I must have the wrong number." He went to hang up but stopped when he heard Mac's voice again.

"Well maybe not. This isn't my phone, who are you looking for?" Lyle still didn't think he had the right number but decided to indulge the person he was talking to.

"Maddie Clarke." Mac laughed.

"Yeah, this is her phone, hang on." Mac turned to Maddie. "Hey babe, phone for you." Maddie waved her hand.

"Take a message." Lyle was shocked when he heard what Mac called Maddie. He was even more shocked when he heard Maddie answer him.

"Do you have a message for Maddie?" Lyle opened and closed his mouth a few times.

"Um no, don't worry." He hung up and looked at the phone confused. Mac shrugged and hung up as well. Maddie sighed and hung up from her conversation with Ashley. She turned to Mac.

"Who was it?" Mac shrugged and went back to his equipment.

"I don't know. He didn't leave a message and hung up before I could get a name." Maddie sighed and flopped down on the bed. The fact that the person didn't leave a message or a name was a little strange but she thought nothing of it. Never did she think it had been Lyle.

"When are you going into the Centre?" Maddie picked up Ashley's files.

"Not today. I've got to fix these up today but I can go into tomorrow." Mac nodded.

"I'll be ready to go in tomorrow as well. We can do this thing tomorrow." Maddie nodded and started going through the files, fixing up mistakes.

"Okay Mac. Now, I've got some work to do so if you don't mind…" Mac sighed dramatically.

"I can take a message; I know when I'm not wanted. I'll leave you alone," he sniffed and took a deep breath, "you don't love me anymore." He pretended to sob and headed towards the door. Maddie laughed.

"You're a freak, you know that?" Mac laughed and opened the door.

"I'll be back later, my love." Maddie laughed and waved him off. She took a deep breath and started working on the files.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Lyle held his hand up to Maddie's door, ready to knock. He changed his mind and put his hand down. He started walking away from the door but stopped. He felt stupid. Here he was, standing outside Maddie's door, feeling totally jealous. He couldn't believe what was wrong with him. After his phone call to Maddie in which he had talked to Mac, he had gotten extremely jealous and hadn't been able to get his mind off it for the rest of the day. As soon as he finished work he had headed straight to Maddie's hotel, wanting to find out what was going on.

He started walking away again, deciding to just give up. Images of what had happened the night before between him and Maddie filled his mind and he stopped again. He was suddenly angry. How could she be with another man the day after what had happened between them? He turned towards the door and knocked without hesitating.

"It had better be room service." Lyle was shocked to hear the person he'd talked to on the phone through the door. The door opened and Lyle saw Mac for the first time. He looked around the room, trying to find Maddie, but couldn't see her. "Yes, how can I help you?" Lyle opened and closed his mouth a few times.

"Is, uh, Maddie here?" Mac nodded.

"She's in the shower right now, I'll go get her." He left the door open and walked over to the bathroom. Lyle started feeling angry. What did this guy think he was doing? What was Maddie doing with this guy? "Maddie baby, someone's here to see you." Lyle clenched his hands into fists. Maddie came out of the bathroom in a robe and a towel wrapped around her hair. She looked towards the door at Lyle, an instant smile coming over her face.

"Hi B… Mr. Lyle." Lyle became angrier when she called him Mr. Lyle.

"Hello Maddie." Mac looked between the two.

"Aren't you going to introduce me, sweet cheeks?" Maddie looked at Lyle, trying to see how he'd react to Mac's flirtations. She could tell he wasn't reacting well.

"Mac, this is Mr. Lyle, Master Parker's brother. Lyle, this is Mac, he's here to do the blood tests." Lyle nodded but he still didn't look too pleased.

"Oh, hey man, business hours are over but we'll be in to the Centre tomorrow if you want to talk shop." Maddie hit Mac in the arm and turned back to Lyle.

"Ignore Mac, come on in." She indicated that he should leave the doorway and come inside. Lyle looked between Maddie and Mac.

"Actually, it doesn't matter anymore." He turned to go. Maddie started panicking. She grabbed his arm and pulled him inside.

"No, please stay. Mac was just leaving, weren't you Mac?" Mac looked at her shocked. He stepped out into the hallway and put his hands over his heart.

"Fine, I can tell when I'm not wanted. I…" Maddie shut the door in his face and turned to Lyle.

"I missed you today." She smiled and took a step closer to him. Lyle snickered and folded his arms across his chest.

"Yeah, it really looks like it." Maddie sighed. She was afraid of this happening.

"I work with Mac. He does some playful flirting, it's not serious. Mac and I have **_never_** been like that." Lyle snickered again.

"Look at you, Maddox. You're standing there in a bathrobe. That guy was in here while you were having a shower; he answered the door **_and_ your mobile phone earlier when I called." Maddie realised that it was Lyle who had called earlier without leaving a message or a name.**

"Bobby, I have been in love with you forever, do you really think that after… everything that's happened that I'd get with anyone else?" Lyle faltered. 

"Look at things from my perspectives." Maddie laughed and stepped closer to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close. She rubbed her nose against his and smiled.

"Okay, I'll try to get into your pants… oh wait, did I say pants 'cause I meant head. I'll try to get into your head." She giggled and kissed along his jaw.

"Maddox, I'm serious." Maddie giggled again and moved to nibble on his earlobe.

"You're not **_serious_**, you're **_jealous_." Lyle pulled away from her.**

"I'm not jealous." Maddie crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him. Lyle raised his eyebrows and continued. "I'm not." Maddie stepped closer to him.

"Really, you're not jealous?" Lyle nodded. "So you're not jealous that while I was in the shower," she leant closer to whisper in his ear, "**_naked_**," she moved away again and stood in front of him, "Mac was out here, knowing that I was in the shower," she moved to whisper in his ear again, "**_naked_**?" Lyle clenched and unclenched his fists. In reality, he couldn't stand that that had happened. He sighed and looked down.

"Okay, I'm jealous." He looked back up at her and smiled. He hadn't had a relationship with any other woman where he **_had_ the opportunity to feel jealously. Since Bobby Bowman had 'died' he had been the love 'em and leave 'em type of guy.**

"What are you smiling about?" Lyle smiled wider and stepped closer to her, picking her up. Maddie squealed and wrapped her legs around his waist. "Bobby?" Lyle backed up to the wall and held her against it.

"I'm actually jealous." Before Maddie could question him again, Lyle leant forward and started kissing her.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Lyle was lying in bed with his head on Maddie's chest. Maddie was playing with his hair. There legs were tangled together and the sheets were pooled around their waists. Lyle reached up and gave her a quick kiss. Maddie smiled. She noticed that he had a cast around his injured arm.

"So it was broken?" Lyle looked at her confused for a moment, not knowing what she was talking about. She lifted his arm up and looked at the cast. Lyle looked at the cast as well.

"Hairline fracture, they said that with what happened to me it's lucky that that's all it was." Maddie nodded then cocked her head to the side. 

"What did you tell them happened to you?" She very much doubted that he would tell them that his boss had beaten him.

"I told them I was mugged." Maddie nodded. "So, why didn't you come into the Centre today, I thought you were supposed to finish my interview." He smirked and ran his hand over her body. Maddie smiled.

"I would have but my boss gave Mac some files to give me. I had to fix them up so I couldn't go in today." Lyle nodded. He had wanted to see her so bad. After leaving her that morning, all he had wanted to do was to head back to her room and stay there. 

"You're going in tomorrow though, right?" Maddie nodded.

"We're doing the blood tests tomorrow. But that means that I have to leave soon." She frowned and moved slightly away from him. Lyle followed her and pulled her into his arms again. He kissed her shoulder and turned her head to face him.

"Hey, it's okay. Just because you've got to leave that doesn't mean that it's the end of this… of us." Maddie sighed. She turned around in his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. She gave him a gentle kiss.

"Really, I mean it's not going to go back to you forgetting about me because I'm not around?" Lyle looked at her confused.

"When did I **_ever_** forget about you?" Maddie looked down.

"Bobby, how many years did you have to find me and to set this straight? The only reason I could come up with why you didn't is that you forgot about me." Lyle shook his head and held her tighter.

"I never forgot about you, I couldn't forget you. I love you too much to forget you." He leant forward and kissed her. Maddie smiled slightly.

"I love you too." Lyle smiled. He'd wanted to say those words to her for so long but he had given up hope of ever actually saying them, or hearing them for that matter.

"I never told you because I thought… I thought your life would be better without me." Maddie shook her head. She ran her hand over his face. Lyle noticed that she had a scar on the inside of her wrist.

"Trust me; my life would have been better with you in it." Lyle smiled. He looked at her arm again, wondering what had happened for her to get that scar. An idea got into his head and he took hold of both her hands and looked at her wrists. There were similar scars on both her wrists. He looked up at her shocked.

"Maddox, what are these scars?" Maddie was already looking down. As soon as he had taken both her hands to look at her wrists she knew that he'd figured it out. She pulled her hands away from him and hid them under the sheets.

"Nothing, don't worry about them. They're old scars." Lyle shook his head and lifted her head to look at him. He leant forward and placed a small kiss on her nose.

"Where did you get the scars from? Please don't tell me you tried to kill yourself." Maddie looked down again. Lyle was shocked. He had always thought that Maddie was too strong to do something like that, but apparently, he was wrong.

"It… it was after Mr. Bowman's trial. He'd been sentenced and that meant that it was all over. I had testified against him for killing you and for doing what he did to you when you were still alive, I figured that I'd done my job." She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "I only wanted to be with you and Jimmy." 

Lyle looked down. It was his fault she had done that. **_He_ hadn't been able to tell her the truth, **_he_** had gone and done something stupid instead of doing the smart thing and going to the police with what he knew, **_he_** had almost caused this sweet, wonderful person to end her life. He felt terrible.**

"What happened?" He held her tighter. Maddie took a deep, shuddering breath.

"I went up to my room and had a razor. I surrounded myself with pictures of you and Jimmy and I slit my wrists. I passed out and my father came in. He saw me on the floor with blood pouring out of my wrists. He got some towels and wrapped them around my wrists to stop the bleeding. He carried me to the car and took me to the hospital. They told me that if he had come in a little later, it would have been too late." Lyle brushed the tears out of her eyes. He leant forward and kissed her gently and sweetly.

"Oh God, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Maddie wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tightly.

"It's okay, I don't blame you. I was in therapy for a long time and learnt that **_I_** was the only one to blame for what I did. **_I_** was upset and **_I_** took an extreme. It was stupid and I'll never do it again." She ran her fingers through his hair and let go of him. Lyle looked at her confused.

"How did you get to be so strong?" Maddie laughed.

"My shrinks have told me that it's because I experienced a great loss at a young age." She kissed him sweetly. "And I don't blame you for it. It made me who I am today." Lyle held her tighter.

"How **_is_** your dad?" Maddie laughed. That was a typical Bobby thing to do, take a word said in another sentence and start a totally new conversation about it. She had missed that.

"He's good. He just celebrated his fifth wedding anniversary a few weeks ago." Lyle was confused.

"He just celebrated his fifth wedding anniversary, how can it only be his fifth?" Maddie looked down.

"My parents got divorced shortly after… everything. They wanted to take different methods in helping me get over everything that had happened. My mother wanted me to forget, my father wanted me to remember. It drove a wedge between them; my mother would always get angry when Dad would just start talking about you or Jimmy or what happened to you. They separated and eventually got divorced." Lyle nodded. 

"What happened to you?" Maddie sighed.

"I had to choose who I had to live with; it was also a way to make me choose how I'd get over everything. My mother moved out of town to Los Angeles while my father stayed in the farmhouse. I wanted to stay with Dad and be able to remember you and Jimmy but it was just too hard in the beginning to be around places we used to spend time in. I moved in with Mum and therefore neither you nor Jimmy was talked about." Lyle looked down.

"I caused your parents to divorce." Maddie shook her head. 

"They were destined to get divorced. If that hadn't happened then something else would have caused the split. Trust me, it wasn't your fault." Lyle sighed. He didn't know if he believed that, but he had no choice but to take Maddie's word for it. 

"So are you sure that it's not my fault?" Maddie laughed and nodded.

"Trust me; things couldn't have turned out better. Dad and Rachel couldn't be happier and Mum says that she's got independence she's never had before, plus I got a half sister out of the deal so everything's great." Lyle smiled. He knew that Maddie had always wanted a sister so if she had one thanks to her parents getting divorced, then he was alright with it.

"Okay, if you say so." Lyle yawned. Maddie laughed and ran her fingers through his hair.

"We should get some sleep. We kind of tired ourselves out earlier; I'm surprised we haven't zonked out before now." Lyle laughed and pulled her closer to him.

"Good night, I love you, Maddox." Maddie smiled and gave him a kiss.

"I love you too, Bobby." Lyle smiled and snuggled closer to her. For the first time since Bobby Bowman had 'died' he was… happy.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Mac was taking Miss Parker's blood. Maddie was sitting across from them going over some files. Miss Parker watched Maddie. She desperately wanted to ask about what she had seen on the DSA of her interview with Lyle, but knew she couldn't. Maddie would probably only lie about it anyway or avoid the topic all together.

"Okay Miss Parker, we are done here. I'll check these out and give you a call." Mac winked at her. Miss Parker stared at him, obviously uninterested in Mac. Maddie laughed and walked over to them.

"Don't worry Miss Parker; **_I'll_ be the one who'll tell you the news." Miss Parker was relieved. She'd rather find out if she was allowed to adopt Master Parker from Maddie, who she had gotten to know, than Mac, who she had just met.**

"Thank you, I'd appreciate that." Maddie smiled at her. Mac started bandaging Miss Parker up. "Maddie, could I talk to you about something?" Maddie nodded. Miss Parker looked at Mac, wanting him to leave. It didn't take long for him to get the message. He sighed and walked out the door.

"Fine, I can tell when I'm not wanted. I…" Miss Parker sighed and shut the door in Mac's face. Maddie stifled a giggle and sat on the end of a table.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Miss Parker walked back to sit in her seat. They were in her office so she felt as ease there.

"I wanted to ask how everything's going with Lyle." Maddie froze for a second, thinking that Miss Parker knew something she wasn't supposed to.

"What do you mean?" Miss Parker sat forward, so she could get closer to her.

"You know, with how he reminds you of that friend of yours? How's everything going with that?" Maddie smiled. She had been frightened that Miss Parker had somehow found out that Lyle was really Bobby and that Maddie had found out.

"Everything's fine. Is that all you wanted to talk about?" She stood, getting ready to leave. Miss Parker sighed. She now knew she had to be direct about it.

"Maddie, I know what happened between you and Lyle in your interview. Are you getting Lyle and Bobby confused?" Maddie was stunned. So she was office gossip now, she had been hoping that Lyle's secretary wouldn't tell, which is who she thought Miss Parker heard it from. She knew that it definitely wasn't Raines.

"Miss Parker, I'm sorry but I don't think that is any of your business." She stood and walked to the door. Miss Parker sighed. She thought that if Maddie was going to continue this **_thing_ with Lyle, then she might as well know the truth.**

"Maddie, I know this may sound hard to believe but Lyle **_is_ Bobby." Maddie stopped and turned to face her.**

"W-what did you say?" Miss Parker sighed. She stood up and walked over to Maddie. She was interpreting Maddie's reaction all wrong. Instead of realising that Maddie was just stunned that Miss Parker knew the truth, she was thinking that she was just shocked to hear the truth.

"Lyle is Bobby. That's the reason we went to your high school reunion. We were sent there because Lyle had just faked his death and we were being shown that it had happened before. Lyle is Bobby." Maddie stared at her in shock. She didn't know that Lyle had done it twice.

"I know." Miss Parker was shocked. "He came and told me. I know that Lyle is Bobby and that's the reason what happened in his office… happened." Miss Parker was shocked.

"Maddie, I think that you should know that he's not the same person you knew." Maddie shook her head.

"But he is. Deep down he's still Bobby." Miss Parker shook her head and stepped closer to her. She put her hand on Maddie's shoulder.

"No, he's not. The person you knew died all those years ago. You don't know Lyle." Maddie shook her head.

"No Miss Parker, **_you_** don't know **_Bobby_. I know he's not the same Bobby he used to be, heck **_I'm_** not the same ****_Maddie_ I used to be. People change, Miss Parker. He is still Bobby. He still says things he used to, he still does things he used to, and he still has that face that I don't know whether to slap off or kiss off. He still cares for me more than he should, he still can't stay away from me when he needs me, and he still loves me, Miss Parker." Miss Parker shook her head. After knowing Lyle for as long as she did she was fairly sure that Lyle didn't understand what love was. Maybe he used to, when he was Bobby Bowman, but he didn't now, now that he was Mr. Lyle.**

"Lyle forgot how to love a long time ago." Maddie shook her head. She stepped closer to Miss Parker.

"No, he didn't. Miss Parker, you have to look below the surface to see Bobby but he's there and he comes out completely when he's with me." Maddie turned back to the door. She stopped, as if remembering something. Turning back to Miss Parker, she smiled. "If you could just look past the façade he put up when he was four years old to endure a hell he should never have had to, then you'll see what I'm talking about." She turned and left the room, leaving Miss Parker staring after her agape.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Maddie was sitting on her bed a few days later talking to Lyle on the phone. Mac was sitting in his corner of the room, going over the blood test results. He stopped suddenly and stood up. He walked over to Maddie and thrust a piece of paper in her face.

"You have got to see this." Maddie looked up at him, annoyed. She took the paper and read what was on it. Her mouth opened in shock and she put her hand over the receiver. 

"Are you sure?" Mac nodded and scratched his head.

"I went over them ten thousand times. I'm sure." Maddie stared at the paper then back at Mac.

"I've got to go; I'll talk to you later." She hung up the phone and stood up immediately. "Mac, I want you to go over these one more time just to be certain." Mac nodded and headed back over to his station to go over the results he had just found again. Maddie stood in the middle of the room looking at the results he had already given her. She couldn't believe what it meant.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Maddie paced around Miss Parker's office. She was waiting for her to get there so she could tell her the news that she and Mac had discovered. She couldn't help but fidget while she was waiting. Finally, Miss Parker entered the office. Maddie turned to face her immediately.

"Miss Parker, I have some news about the adoption." Miss Parker nodded and went to sit down in her seat.

"Do I get Tommy or not?" She started to become worried. The look on Maddie's face was confusing and it was hard to decipher what it meant.

"Mac discovered something while going over the blood test results. Something about the initial results intrigued him and he looked into them deeper. Miss Parker, you aren't Tommy's sister." Miss Parker couldn't believe it.

"What do you mean?" She started feeling sick. There was already the question of who her real father was; Mr. Parker or Mr. Raines. If Master Parker wasn't her brother that meant that Mr. Parker wasn't her father, Mr. Raines was.

"Tommy isn't your brother. He's your son." Miss Parker looked at her shocked. She had known the Centre to do some horrible things, but this was going one step too far this time. It all made sense though. Mr. Parker was practically sterile so the chances of him having a child were low and Brigitte… well maybe it wasn't a lie that she couldn't have children. Brigitte had just been the incubator for the latest Centre project. This new development meant that Miss Parker had delivered her own son.

"He's my son. Oh God, he's my son." Maddie went to sit next to her.

"I don't know what the Centre is, or what goes on here but I do know that that boy is your son. Seeing as though that boy's mother is alive… and sitting next to me, I can't give custody to Mr. Raines. Therefore, Miss Parker, you now have custody of your… son." Miss Parker looked at her with a small smile on her face.

"Tommy is my son." She liked the sound of that. Maddie smiled.

"You know what; I think on some level you already knew that. I've seen the two of you together and you seem very motherly with him." Miss Parker smiled wider.

"So this means… I get him?" Maddie smiled wider. She nodded.

"You get him." Miss Parker stood up. She felt like jumping around the room. For all of Tommy's life she had felt like she was the only one who cared for him. Now she finds out that not only is **_she_ his real mother but also that she gets to keep him.**

"Thank you Maddie. Thank you so much." In a totally uncharacteristic, move she pulled Maddie into a hug. Feeling embarrassed, she stepped back and looked down. Maddie laughed.

"It's okay Miss Parker. I'm doing my job, plus I couldn't think of anyone I'd rather see Tommy with." Miss Parker smiled again. She couldn't help but pull Maddie in for another hug. Maddie gave her one more smile then left the room.

Miss Parker moved back to her desk not being able to wipe the smile off her face. She couldn't wait to get her son home. Those words… **_her_ **_son_**… before, she had had these words floating through her head in an adoptive mother type of way, but now she knew it was for real. Tommy really was ****_her_ **_son_**. **

It was dangerous, this she knew, meaning that she had to get away. She had to take Tommy and get the hell away from Blue Cove, away from the Centre and more importantly, get away from Raines. One thing was for certain though, wherever she went, whatever she did, Tommy would be with her. He was **_her_ **_son_**. **

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Maddie was packing her things. A lot of her clothes were scattered on the bed and her suitcases were out in the open. Mac's corner, as she had come to know it, was packed up and he had already left. She didn't even want to think about leaving but knew she had to. Tommy had been placed so her job was done. There was only one thing she was dreading; leaving Bobby.

Maddie was staring at her clothes. Why had she packed so many things? She always packed much more than was needed when she was out of town. There was a knock on the door and it startled her. She walked to the door quickly, already knowing who it was.

"Hey Maddox, I missed you." She smiled slightly as Lyle leant in to give her a kiss. She pulled him inside and shut the door behind him. 

"I missed you too." Lyle looked around the room. He saw everything out and didn't realise what it meant until he saw her suitcases. He turned to look at her with a sad face.

"You're leaving." It was a statement and not a question. Maddie nodded. She looked away from him, feeling like she was going to start crying.

"I placed Master Parker." Lyle's eyebrows rose.

"And who was he placed with?" He already had a fair idea who Maddie would place Master Parker with.

"He was placed with his mother." Lyle looked at her confused. Maddie sighed. She had been thinking that maybe Lyle knew about Tommy being Miss Parker's son but was relieved when it turned out not to be true. "Mac discovered that Miss Parker was really Master Parker's mother." Lyle looked down.

"I can't believe they did that. I had my suspicions but I didn't think it was true. Mr. Parker told me once he was practically sterile and Brigitte said she couldn't have children. It didn't make sense." Maddie nodded.

"I have a feeling that the Centre has something to do with this. Am I right?" Lyle looked at her, shocked. How could she know that? Maddie nodded. "That's what I thought. I don't know what the Centre does and I don't **_want_ to know." Lyle nodded.**

"It's good that you don't." Maddie looked down. Lyle took a deep breath and stepped closer to her. There was something else that he had to tell her. "Remember when I told you that I don't want you coming back here?" Maddie nodded, her eyes welling with tears.

"Yes, I remember." Lyle nodded and took another step closer to her.

"I still don't want you to come back here, especially now that you've placed Master Parker with my sister instead of with Raines. You've got to leave as soon as you can. I don't want Raines doing anything to you." He ran his hand over her face. By now, tears were streaming down Maddie's face. She stepped closer to him, wrapping her arms around him tightly.

"I know. I can sense that it's not safe here." She started kissing him. "I love you Bobby." Lyle held her more tightly and started backing towards the bed. He lifted her up.

"I love you too, Maddox. But I guess this is good…" Maddie silenced him by kissing him and pushing him back so they fell on the bed.

"Don't say goodbye, this isn't goodbye. You promised me I'd never be rid of you." She helped him to sit up and took his shirt off. Pushing him back to the bed she took her own shirt off. Lyle eyed her appreciatively.

"Of course you'll never be rid of me." Maddie smiled and leant down to kiss him.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Miss Parker had Master Parker bundled up tightly against her body. The Centre was practically deserted so this was the perfect time to get her son out. She'd already told Sydney and Broots the good news and they had said goodbyes. She'd miss them terribly but it had to be done.

She was leaving, taking her son and leaving. Maddie hadn't told Raines yet, she had had the good mind to decide to leave him a note instead of incurring his wrath in person. Miss Parker was glad that she had decided to do that for two reasons. One; Raines would never let Maddie live after that if she was still there, and two; Miss Parker would never be able to get Master Parker out.

Glancing one more time at her son and then at the Centre, Miss Parker got into her car. She wouldn't be going back to her mother's house; she would never see it again. It was safer to just leave Blue Cove straight away, leave and never look back. Her new life was beginning and she couldn't be happier. She was free, her son was free, and the Centre could never hurt them again.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

The next day, Mr. Raines walked into his office. He saw a piece of paper on his desk and became curious. Speeding up in his stride, he reached his desk as fast as he could. He picked up the paper and started reading through it. It read:

_Mr. Raines,_

_                  I regret to inform you that your attempt at adopting your nephew, Master Parker, has failed. I have found a more suitable parent for Master Parker. I believe he has been placed in a more satisfactory environment to one that you could provide for him. The person who has adopted him has chosen to remain nameless so I am afraid I cannot reveal to you who succeeded in gaining custody of him. I am also afraid I cannot tell you where Master Parker and his new parent have moved to by request of Master Parker's new legal guardian. On behalf of the Langford Adoption Agency, I would like to thank you for your attempt at adopting Master Parker. I am sorry that it did not work out as you had planned._

_Yours sincerely,_

_            Madelyn Clarke._

Raines stared at the paper in his hand. He crushed it into a tiny ball and threw it across the room. He was livid. All his plans had failed. The Langford Adoption Agency had been chosen because he had believed that it would be easy to gain custody of Master Parker through them. What he hadn't counted on was that the woman who used to run the Langford Adoption Agency, who also had helped the Centre many times before with matters of this nature, had died. If he had known, he would have used one of the other adoption agencies affiliated with the Centre.

He knew that others in the Centre hierarchy had already thought he was stupid for trying to adopt Master Parker legally. If they had been angry before, he knew that they'd be even more so when they discovered what had happened. He had not only alerted outside sources to the existence of the child but had also lost custody of him.

A thought occurred to him. In the letter it had said that Maddie had placed him with someone else but that she wasn't at liberty to divulge who. It had also said that she couldn't tell him where this person had taken Master Parker. He started to panic. He picked up the phone and dialled the Centre nursery.

"Is Master Parker there?" Raines heard something dropping over the other end of the phone and knew that he had frightened the nurse on duty by calling.

"I'll just go check. I don't know why he wouldn't be there though. Could you please hold?" Raines nodded. He didn't have time for niceties.

"Yes, yes, just go check." He waited a moment while the nurse left the phone. When she came back it was obvious that she was frightened and nervous.

"Mr. Raines, sir, Master Parker… he's… he's… he's gone. I don't know what happened or where he could have gone, but he's not here anymore." Raines started wheezing more than ever.

"Find out who was on duty last night and get them to my office immediately. I want to know who took him." Without letting the nurse answer he slammed the phone down. He knew he was in a lot of trouble. Master Parker was gone, now he just had to figure out who had taken him. He got another idea and dialled another number.

"Centre lobby, who may I help you?" Raines wheezed.

"Has Miss Parker arrived today?" The person on the other end of the phone panicked and started checking through the sign in sheet.

"No sir, she hasn't arrived." Raines slammed the phone down again. Miss Parker had taken Master Parker, this he was sure of; she must be the person who had gained custody of him.

Raines cursed. He had wanted to gain custody of Master Parker so that he was **_his_** son. Master Parker was the key to the future, whoever held him would have all the power and that was why he had wanted to adopt him. He just hoped that Miss Parker wouldn't discover this. If she did discover what power Master Parker held over them it would surely be the end of the Centre.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

**_Maddie's Apartment; Los Angeles – A Few Weeks Later_**

There was a trail of things leading to the back of the apartment. Shoes were laying next to the door, followed by a pair of stockings, a handbag, a folder, a brown paper bag and a box all leading to a room in the back of the apartment. The door to the bedroom was open and Maddie was lying on the bed, her feet still on the ground and her arm flung across her eyes.

It had been a few weeks since she'd left Blue Cove and Bobby. She missed him terribly and he was the only thing she could think of most of the time. She hadn't spoken to him since the last night they had spent together in her hotel room. That had been their goodbye. Lyle had helped her finish packing and had promised to set up the note she was going to leave Raines in his office to tell him what her decision had been. The next morning he'd walked her down to her car. They'd stayed there kissing for a while then she had gotten into her car and had started her way home. She still remembered seeing him standing behind her in the rear-view mirror.

When she'd gotten home she'd been upset and had just stayed in her room. Before she'd left she'd been the life of the party, going out almost every night, but since she had gotten home she had only left her apartment to go to work. When she hadn't gotten her period at first it meant nothing, her period was always all over the place. After two weeks of still not starting her cycle something had clicked. Her first night with Lyle had been started out of passion and was totally spur of the moment, therefore no protection was used. After putting the two events together she had gone out and gotten a few pregnancy tests.

A timer went off making her sit up immediately. She practically ran into the bathroom. When she came out she was holding a pregnancy test in one hand while her other hand was spread across her stomach. Walking mechanically to sit on the bed, she was staring out into space. Her hand was moving slightly over her stomach as if looking for something. Reluctantly she looked down at her stomach then back up.

"Oh God, I'm pregnant with a dead man's baby."

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

The End???

**Authors note:** Okay, that's the end of this story. I do have an idea of a second part for this story but it's up to you whether I write it or not. Do you want to know what happens to Miss Parker and Tommy? Do you want to find out what Maddie does about the baby? Do you want to know if she tells Lyle and if she does how he reacts? If you do I'll write another part but if you don't want more for this story then I won't bother. I know it was long and thank you for reading.

Kimmi ;-)


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